"He's promised to label China a currency manipulator on his first day in office. We're still waiting. Last night at the White House I mentioned this to the president. He didn't say no," Chuck Schumer said. | AP Photo
Schumer presses Trump to label China a currency manipulator
By BURGESS EVERETT
Chuck Schumer desperately wants to know whether Donald Trump will label China a currency manipulator, as he promised to do during the campaign.
The Senate minority leader said Tuesday that he challenged the new president about his promise to crack down on China on his first day in office, which Trump did not do despite previous campaign pledges. But Schumer (D-N.Y.) also said that Trump didn't rule out doing so. Critics say such a move could spark a trade war.
"He's promised to label China a currency manipulator on his first day in office. We're still waiting. Last night at the White House I mentioned this to the president. He didn't say no," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "I'm not going to say what he said. He didn't say no. Maybe he'll do it. I hope and pray he does."
A group of senators in both parties, including Trump's attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), have long pressed the United States to label China a currency manipulator. In the past, the Chinese government made its currency artificially low, though the country has backed off that stance in recent years.
But Democrats are looking to hold Trump to his campaign pledges. And on the issue of trade with China, it's one place where party leaders agree with how Trump campaigned.
"We were opposed frankly by both President Bush and President Obama. And now we have President Trump," Schumer said. "We await real action on trade."