A weaker renminbi blunts President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese-made goods. But the strategy carries risks beyond worsening relations with the United States.

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This article was originally published in 2018 and was updated on Aug. 5 after China’s currency fell.

As the United States and China swap threats and mete out increasingly punishing tariffs, the world is watching to see whether Beijing turns to one of its most potent economic weapons.

It involves the number 7.

China’s currency, the renminbi, on Monday crossed the psychologically important level of 7 renminbi to the dollar. As of Monday morning Eastern time, it took about 7.05 Chinese renminbi to equal $1. The last time it took more than 7 renminbi to buy a dollar was in May 2008, as the world was slipping into a financial crisis.

The Trump administration does not like the idea of a weaker Chinese currency. That could give what it considers an unfair advantage to China’s exporters. In the arsenal of trade disputes, currencies can be potent weapons.

But China has good reason to keep its currency from weakening much further. Currencies may be potent weapons, but they are blunt ones — and they can boomerang against those who use them.