Rules for Being Currency Manipulator

President Trump said he was going to call out China for being a currency manipulator but has not done it.  Perhaps his own Treasury rules are the reason, and not a more simple view of the outright manipulation of currency by the Central Bank.  That isn't enough. 

Today's Wall Street Journal has an interesting explanation of why that might be.  In it, are listed the constraints put on anyone trying to interpret actions by another country's central bank. 

1.  The economy of the country in question must have a trade surplus of at least $20 Billion.  Riddle me that one.  It is really hard to say why a country has to have any trade surplus to qualify, but it does. 

2.  The economy must have an overall current account surplus of at least 3% of its gross domestic product.  Meaning, as the article goes on to explain, that it must not just have a trade surplus with the US, but the entire world.  China doesn't, as hard as that one is to believe. 

3.  The economy must conduct "persistent, one-sided intervention" in the currency market.  China does not, by most definitions.  They choose their times carefully for effect. 

So we have a sense of why currency manipulation is seldom called out.  We have set rules that are not met by the countries doing it.   How clever is that?