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US-China trade war
EconomyChina Economy

Explainer | What is the ‘Mar-a-Lago Accord’, and will it really crash China’s economy?

The US’ mooted idea to devalue the dollar has been compared to the Plaza Accord of the 1980s, which some believe caused Japan’s ‘lost decades’

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US President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room at the White House. The Trump administration is rumoured to be working on a sweeping Mar-a-Lago Accord to devalue the US dollar. Photo: TNS
Sylvia Ma

There has been a frenzy of speculation among investors and policymakers in recent months that the administration of US President Donald Trump is working on a sweeping international agreement to reshape America’s role in the global economy.

Some say the Trump team views such a deal – which has been dubbed a “Mar-a-Lago Accord”, in a nod to the Plaza Accord of the 1980s – as integral to their push to revitalise American manufacturing and reduce the US’ gaping trade deficit.

Though the White House has not officially acknowledged it, a November article by Stephen Miran – Trump’s newly appointed chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers – laid out the key ideas behind the strategy and discussed possible ways to implement it.

Any such plan could have weighty implications for China, as today’s Chinese economy is often compared to the Japanese economy of the 1980s. Many in Japan still blame the Plaza Accord for sparking the crash that led to the country’s “lost decades” of stagnant growth.

In this explainer, the Post unpacks the policy rationale behind a possible Mar-a-Lago Accord and its potential impact on China.

What would a Mar-a-Lago Accord seek to achieve?

In his widely cited article, Miran said the cause of the US’ large trade deficit was the persistent overvaluation of the US dollar.

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