A senior U.S. official welcomed a weaker dollar on Wednesday, sending the greenback reeling and underlining concerns that U.S. President Donald Trump is stepping up his attack on China and other big trading partners as part of his America First agenda.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made the remark, seen by markets as a departure from traditional U.S. currency policy, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where other world leaders have made swipes at what they see as U.S. protectionism.
Tough U.S. talk on trade, on the eve of Trump’s arrival at the Swiss ski resort on Thursday, contrasted sharply with a chorus of government leaders, from India and Brazil to Germany and Canada, who urged cooperation and criticized protectionism.
This was excerpted from the 24 January 2018 edition of Reuters Canada.