China Warming to Idea of Yuan as Trade War Weapon, Analysts Say

From bnnbloomberg.ca

Analysts say the yuan’s sudden slump is a sign China’s central bank will allow more depreciation after the U.S. vowed to hit the country’s products with new tariffs. The move by the People’s Bank of China to set the yuan fixing weaker than 6.9 a dollar for the first time this year suggests policy makers "may now finally be willing to use the exchange rate as a tool in the U.S.-China trade fight," said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. The central bank said Monday that the currency’s slump past 7 was due to “protectionism,” adding that it’s able to keep ... (full story)