US Election Debate: Trump says tariffs will decrease deficits and urges scrutiny of countries like China

Dhwani Mehta FXStreet

The first US presidential debate between President Joe Biden and Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump began on CNN News. It is their first showdown of the 2024 election process.

The first question asked was on the state of the economy, including spiraling inflation, and whether it has been worse off after US President Biden took over.

Biden acknowledged that “inflation had driven prices substantially higher than at the start of his term but said he deserves credit for putting 'things back together again' following the coronavirus pandemic,” per Reuters.

Biden said that he aims to reduce housing prices, increase construction, and limit rent caps if he gets elected for the second term.

Trump condemned elevated inflation levels. He suggested that tariffs would decrease deficits and urged scrutiny of countries like China.

When asked about the Russia-Ukraine war, Trump said that If Russia respected President Biden, he wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine. He added that Biden in fact encouraged Putin to get into the war.

“Shortly after I win the presidency, I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled,” Trump said.

Biden refuted saying that former President Trump wants to get out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and start a nuclear war.

Further, both candidates slammed each other on topics such as immigration, abortion rights, foreign policy and the Middle East conflict.

“Would you support the creation of an independent Palestinian state in order to support peace in the region,” CNN moderator Dana Bash asked Trump.

“I’d have to see,” Trump replied.

Trump called Biden’s withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan “the most embarrassing day in the history of our country’s life.”

As the debate drew to a close, Trump finished ahead of Biden in speaking time at the close of the debate, according to CNN News, even as both candidates had an equal chance to respond to questions.

Some Democrats expressed their concerns about President Biden’s performance while the Trump campaign declared victory.

US Dollar keeps pushing higher

The US dollar catches a fresh bid against its major currency rivals, mainly driven by surging USD/JPY, as the Japanese Yen slides further. The debate seems to have a limited impact across the FX board. At the time of writing, the US Dollar Index is up 0.17% on the day to trade near 106.10.

US Dollar PRICE Today

The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the strongest against the Australian Dollar.

	USD	EUR	GBP	JPY	CAD	AUD	NZD	CHF
USD		0.17%	0.12%	0.19%	0.23%	0.34%	0.30%	0.14%
EUR	-0.17%		-0.04%	0.03%	0.06%	0.16%	0.13%	-0.02%
GBP	-0.12%	0.04%		0.06%	0.09%	0.20%	0.17%	-0.01%
JPY	-0.19%	-0.03%	-0.06%		0.00%	0.13%	0.08%	-0.06%
CAD	-0.23%	-0.06%	-0.09%	-0.01%		0.10%	0.07%	-0.12%
AUD	-0.34%	-0.16%	-0.20%	-0.13%	-0.10%		-0.03%	-0.21%
NZD	-0.30%	-0.13%	-0.17%	-0.08%	-0.07%	0.03%		-0.18%
CHF	-0.14%	0.02%	0.01%	0.06%	0.12%	0.21%	0.18%

The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).

Author

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

GBP/USD hits multi-week tops around 1.3560

GBP/USD gathers fresh steam and advances to new three-month peaks near the 1.3560 zone on Friday. Cable’s sharp move higher comes after three daily drops in a row and follows the increasing selling pressure hurting the Greenback.

EUR/USD pops to fresh two-month highs, targets 1.1600

EUR/USD advances markedly, revisiting the upper 1.1500s for the first time since mid-June. The pair’s sharp uptick comes on the back of a strong retracement in the US Dollar amid BoJ intervention chatter and despite steady uncertainty in the Middle East.

Gold picks up pace, approaches $4,400

Gold rebounds toward the $4,400 mark per troy ounce on Friday, reversing the previous day’s pullback. The precious metal’s recovery comes as fresh and intense weakness keep weighing on the US Dollar, while traders keep assessing easing expectations of an imminent Fed interest rate hike and the situation from the Middle East.

Pi Network Price Forecast: PI extends consolidation as bulls eye $0.10

Pi Network (PI) price holds steady on Friday, maintaining a consolidating tone for three consecutive days. Mild retail strength in the PI token remains stable, with Open Interest above $9 million, while social buzz eases. PI token’s technical outlook is mixed, as bearish momentum wanes to neutral, with bulls eyeing the $0.1000 psychological level.

Weekly focus: Some relief in US inflation concerns

Actual inflation data for July came out as expected with a 0.1% m/m increase in headline CPI and 0.2% excluding food and energy. Annual headline inflation remains too high at 3.4% and means that wage earners are experiencing stagnating spending power at best, and core inflation is a bit higher than the inflation target of two percent would suggest.

Why is Crude Oil priced for a reopening the ships haven't made?

Fourteen vessels crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. Before the war, the count ran near 120 a day. In the sessions since the waterway was publicly declared open, Brent has drifted back to $87 and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) to $81, both a little lower again on Wednesday, with daily momentum on each unwound from the top of its range in late July to the low twenties now.