Washington (awp/afp) – The dollar stabilized on Tuesday, with investors remaining cautious after Donald Trump’s announcements on customs duties, in the absence of concrete implementation.
Around 8:00 p.m. GMT, the American currency dropped 0.04% against the euro, to $1.0420.
As soon as he was inaugurated, the leader declared a state of emergency at the border with Mexico against immigration, pardoned 1,500 attackers of the Capitol, and signed the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris agreement and the WHO, all strong measures which reinforced investor confidence in the fact that he would deliver on his campaign promises, including that of a new protectionist trade policy.
“Ultimately, actions speak louder than words and so far, Trump has not imposed tariffs,” said Adam Button of ForexLive to AFP.
The new president reaffirmed Monday his intention to impose customs duties of 25% on Canadian and Mexican products starting February 1, which could increase inflation in the United States and leave less room for the Reserve federal government (Fed) to lower its rates in the coming months.
But no decree to this effect has yet been signed.
In reaction, the American currency crushed the Mexican peso and the Canadian dollar on Monday before falling a little on Tuesday.
-Around 8:00 p.m. GMT, the Mexican peso fell by 0.63%, to 20.6344 pesos per dollar, and the Canadian currency fell by 0.17%, to 1.4335 Canadian dollars per buck. nickname of the American currency.
“He scared the markets again by talking about Mexico and Canada, and a little about China. But he had several months to prepare tariffs and he didn’t issue any.”
Currency traders therefore believe “that there is no rush in terms of customs duties” and have “the feeling that Trump will make incessant threats, as during his last term”, assures Adam Button.
Concerning China, whose exports were threatened with customs surcharges throughout the campaign, Donald Trump asked federal agencies on Monday to assess the state of the trade agreement concluded between Washington and Beijing in 2020 “in order to determine if implementation or changes are necessary.
“Markets will continue to evolve according to Mr. Trump’s unpredictable trade policies,” summarize analysts at Brown Brothers Harriman. But, “US economic exceptionalism has been and always will be the main driver of dollar strength,” they add.
Cours de mardi Cours de lundi 20H00 GMT 22H00 GMT EUR/USD 1,0420 1,0416 EUR/JPY 162,08 162,08 EUR/CHF 0,9445 0,9443 EUR/GBP 0,8450 0,8448 USD/JPY 155,55 155,62 USD/CHF 0,9064 0,9066 GBP/USD 1,2330 1,2328
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