STERLING SURGE: Huge pound boost after Trump adviser slams Germany for ‘EXPLOITING EURO’

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The British pound has surged against the dollar following US criticism of rival currencies

Last month, the pound’s value reached a high of $1.2593 against the dollar in the sterling’s best performance since 2011, marking a great start to the new year amid fears the pound could weaken as Britain gets set to leave the EU.

It came as Peter Navarro, a key figure in President Trump’s new administration, slammed Berlin for using a “grossly undervalued” euro to “exploit” the US and other fellow EU members.

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Brexit killed TTIP on both sides of the Atlantic even before the election of Donald Trump

Peter Navarro

Mr Navarro, the head of Mr Trump’s new National Trade Council, told the Financial Time the euro represents an “implicit Deutsche Mark”, giving Germany an unfair advantage over its trading partners in a fresh threat to relations between Washington and Berlin.

He said: “A big obstacle to viewing TTIP as a bilateral deal is Germany, which continues to exploit other countries in the EU as well as the US with an ‘implicit Deutsche Mark’ that is grossly undervalued.

“The German structural imbalance in trade with the rest of the EU and the US underscores the economic heterogeneity [diversity] within the EU — ergo, this is a multilateral deal in bilateral dress.”

With Trump openly admitting a preference for ‘one-on-one’ trade deals rather than big, overarching multilateral agreements, Britain’s special relationship with the US looks set to blossom with the President keen to secure closer trade ties following Brexit.

Mr Navarro added that Britain’s EU exit looks set to have complicated trade ties between the US and the EU, claiming talks over an agreement between the two powers, known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), are over.

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Peter Navarro, seen here at Trump Tower, was very critical of the single currency

He said: “Brexit killed TTIP on both sides of the Atlantic even before the election of Donald Trump.

“I personally view TTIP as a multilateral deal with many countries under one ‘roof’.”

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Trump slammed Chian and Japan during a meeting with pharmaceutical company executives on Tuesday

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has attacked China and Japan for devaluing their currencies in a clear suggestions the two countries are manipulating financial markets.

In a meeting with pharmaceutical company executives on Tuesday, Trump said: “You look at what China’s doing, you look at what Japan has done over the years. They play the money market, they play the devaluation market and we sit there like a bunch of dummies.”