China’s central bank has said that the United States’ decision to name China a currency manipulator is an act of “protectionism” that “seriously violates” international rules, reported Caixin.

The Treasury Department blamed China for breaking a G20 commitment to refrain from competitive devaluation. In a statement, the department said it will work with the International Monetary Fund to “eliminate the unfair competitive advantage created by China’s latest actions.”

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) said the designation cannot be justified by the US Department of Treasury’s own standards for defining a currency manipulator. The PBoC argued that the main cause of the recent RMB depreciation is the fluctuations in the international currency market against the backdrop of a changing global economic landscape and inflamed trade frictions.

The central bank’s Governor Yi Gang said that China will not allow competitive devaluation and will not use the RMB’s exchange rate “as an instrument in dealing with trade disputes or other external disruptions.”