According to a CNN report, which has not yet been independently verified by other sources, United States President-elect Donald Trump will seek to label China as a currency manipulator within his first 200 days in office. Other benchmarks are for Days One and 100, with the first day’s proposals including an order to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) to ensure reciprocity when it comes to international investors acting in the US, which would include those from China.
Assuming that the leaked Trump memo which was the basis of CNN’s reporting is accurate, and if the CFIUS proposal were to be implemented (which would need legislation), it would represent a sharp departure from normal CFIUS procedure. By requiring investment reciprocity (such as the equal opportunity to acquire a Chinese company), the US would move from blocking investments solely due to national security implications to blocking investments due to reciprocity concerns. This would be a stark departure from prior American practice, and from standard international investment practice.
Negotiations on bilateral trade with China and a review to see if China could be labelled a currency manipulator are scheduled to be done within the first 100 days, alongside a renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Regarding the latter, Export Development Canada has reported that the imposition of a 10% tariff on Canadian goods by the US could drop Canadian exports to the US by 5%. CNN also reports that Trump plans to fulfill many of his trade negotiation promises by Day One of his time in office, and to lift restrictions on coal, shale, oil, and gas energy reserves, which Trump claims are worth US$50 trillion (C$67 trillion).