Trump targets undervalued currencies with tariffs

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has proposed tariffs on products from countries which are found to have undervalued currencies. The move is seen by many as a clear measure against Vietnam, which many claim has devalued its currency to grow – among other sectors – its clothing and footwear exports. China has already regularly been accused of currency manipulation in recent years. Indeed, only at the recent Copenhagen Fashion Summit, UK fashion designer Katharine Hamnett claimed China had been allowed into the WTO without “addressing its artificially deflated currency” – hence the massive growth in its textile and apparel exports in the past two decades, to the detriment of domestic manufacturing in the West.