Geithner Plays Down Risk of Trade Battle With China Over Yuan

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner played down the danger of a trade war over China’s currency policy after U.S. lawmakers took a step toward approving a bill designed to protect against Chinese imports.

“We’re not going to have a trade war,” Geithner said in remarks to a Washington conference yesterday hosted by The Atlantic magazine and the Aspen Institute. He also said that if the recent appreciation in the yuan “continues, that would make a really material difference on their economics and on our economics in ways that we think are important.”