The US chose not to label China a currency manipulator in the Treasury’s semiannual currency report and chose to shift the government’s focus on the renminbi’s future appreciation, the Wall Street Journal reported. "What matters is how far and how fast the renminbi appreciates," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement. The report was due to be released on April 15 but was postponed amid rising tensions between the two trading partners over what the US sees as an undervalued Chinese currency. A week before Canada’s G20 meeting, China freed its currency from an almost two-year peg to the dollar, and has risen 0.74% since then. However, reaction in the US to Treasury’s decision to cool their rhetoric on China was mixed. Top Republican Senator Charles Grassley criticized the decision not to call China a currency manipulator. "Everyone knows China manipulates its currency," he said. "If the president continues to avoid acknowledging China’s currency manipulation and fails to address it in a meaningful way, Congress will have to act."
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