Focus on currencies as G-20 girds for Trump era

Mnuchin plans to drive message that US won't tolerate countries that engage in currency devaluation

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin plans to use his debut at a Group of 20 meeting in Germany next week to drive home the message that the US won’t tolerate countries that engage in currency devaluation to gain an edge in trade, according to people familiar with the matter.

The message, which will borrow from the G-20 consensus view hammered out with the previous US administration, will be Mnuchin’s focus as he has few political staffers to develop detailed positions on key points such as global trade rules and their collision with President Donald Trump’s “America First” stance, the people said.

A mainstay of G-20 statements in recent years, the pledge to refrain from using monetary policy to cheapen currencies takes on new relevance amid US claims that China, Germany and others are doing just that. While other members plan to stick to the informal economic rule book that the G-20 writes, the US appears poised to challenge the consensus that it’s based on.