Associated Press
- President Trump accused the European Central Bank of manipulating the euro after it fell 0.28% following ECB President Mario Draghi's pledge to stimulate the eurozone economy if conditions don't improve.
- "Mario Draghi just announced more stimulus could come, which immediately dropped the Euro against the Dollar, making it unfairly easier for them to compete against the USA," Trump tweeted.
- The Trump administration previously accused Germany of exploiting an undervalued euro to boost its exports, and blamed excessive tourism in Europe on a weak currency.
- Watch the EUR/USD exchange rate live.
President Donald Trump accused the European Central Bank of manipulating the euro after ECB President Mario Draghi pledged on Tuesday to stimulate the eurozone economy if conditions don't improve, sending the single currency downward.
"Mario Draghi just announced more stimulus could come, which immediately dropped the Euro against the Dollar, making it unfairly easier for them to compete against the USA," Trump tweeted.
"They have been getting away with this for years, along with China and others."
The tweet came after Draghi said the central bank was ready to use interest-rate cuts and other measures to hit its inflation targets. He flagged geopolitical tensions, protectionism, and vulnerable emerging markets as risks to European exports and manufacturing.
"In the absence of improvement, such that the sustained return of inflation to our aim is threatened, additional stimulus will be required," Draghi said in a speech on Tuesday. "Further cuts in policy interest rates and mitigating measures to contain any side effects remain part of our tools."
The euro fell by 0.28% to about 1.119 against the dollar following his comments.
The Trump administration has complained about the euro before. In May, the US Treasury blamed Germany's "massive" current account surplus on an "undervalued real effective exchange rate" as well as tepid growth in demand. In 2017, top trade advisor Peter Navarro claimed Germany was exploiting a "grossly undervalued" euro to boost its exports at the expense of the US and the rest of the Eurozone.
"We are not currency manipulators," Draghi responded. "Our monetary policies reflect the diverse positions in the economic cycle of the eurozone and the US."
Earlier this month, Trump blamed excessive tourism in Europe on an undervalued euro.
"This is because the euro and other currencies are devalued against the dollar, putting the US at a big disadvantage," he tweeted.
See the latest EUR-USD movements here.