China avoids US manipulator tag, but not off the hook on trade

Shanghai

US President Donald Trump may have decided not to declare China a currency manipulator, an acceptance of the difficulty of making such a charge stick, but that doesn't mean Beijing is off the hook.

Mr Trump's pre-empting of the Treasury Department's semi-annual report on such matters undoubtedly eased some concerns of an imminent trade war with China, but Washington has already opened up new fronts to target its large trade deficit with Beijing.