China lets yuan slide past key 7 level for first time in over decade as trade war intensifies

yuan usd

SHANGHAI (Reuters): China on Monday let the yuan tumble beyond the key 7-per-dollar level for the first time in more than a decade, in a sign Beijing might be willing to tolerate further currency weakness in the face of an escalating trade row with the United States.

The sharp 1.4% drop in the yuan comes days after US President Donald Trump stunned financial markets by vowing to impose 10% tariffs on the remaining us$300bil of Chinese imports from Sept 1, abruptly breaking a brief month-long ceasefire in the bruising trade war.