US President Donald Trump: Canada and Mexico tariffs to start February 1

Joshua Gibson FXStreet

United States (US) President Donald Trump ran through a long list of grievances while delivering his remarks during the World Economic Forum hosted in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday. President Trump reiterated his concerns that the US' trade deficit with Canada, which amounts to 4% of the US' total trade imbalance, is unsustainable. President Trump also floated tax cuts for US businesses, asking the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to lower Crude Oil prices, and re-floated his ongoing threats of ambiguous, sweeping tariffs on US imports from other countries. President Donald Trump also took the opportunity to remind everyone at Davos that he will single-handedly deliver extreme tax cuts while simultaneously shrinking the US spending deficit, and also vowed to attempt to subvert the operational independence of the US Federal Reserve (Fed).

President Trump also spoke later on Thursday, reiterating tariffs on Canada and Mexico to begin on February 1.

Key highlights

US has largest amount of oil and gas of any country and we are going to use it.

US House and Senate will pass tax-cut measures.

Congress will pass the largest tax cut in American history.

I will ask OPEC to lower oil prices.

I will ask Saudi's MBS for $1 trillion in investments.

I will demand lower interest rates.

I'm asking NATO nations to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.

EU tariffs make it very difficult to bring products into Europe.

I will do something about the trade deficit with the EU.

We need double the energy we have in the US for AI to be as big as we want it.

I will bring the corporate tax rate to 15% if the product is made in the US.

We can't continue current trade deficit levels with Canada.

I want to obliterate US debt, which will happen rapidly.

I will meet Putin soon to end the war in Ukraine.

I see US-China relationship being very good.

More Trump highlights:

I expect the Fed to listen to me on interest rates.

I’m not sure we should be spending anything on NATO.

I'm signing action related to AI.

Trump signs action to form internal working group on Crypto.

Trump reiterates February 1st date for Canada and Mexico tariffs.

Trump's crypto working group to study a US digital asset stockpile.

Author

Joshua Gibson

FXStreet

Joshua joins the FXStreet team as an Economics and Finance double major from Vancouver Island University with twelve years' experience as an independent trader focusing on technical analysis.

GBP/USD gathers strength to near 1.3300; NFP data loom

The GBP/USD pair gains traction to near 1.3290 during the Asian trading hours on Thursday. The British Pound strengthens against the US Dollar as the UK's likely next Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, has eased market concerns by pledging strict fiscal discipline. The US Nonfarm Payrolls data for June will take center stage later on Thursday.

EUR/USD approaches 1.1400 as bearish flag remains in play

The EUR/USD pair ticks higher during the Asian session though it lacks bullish conviction as traders keenly await the release of the crucial US Nonfarm Payrolls report. Spot prices currently trade around the 1.1385 area and remain close to the weekly low, touched on Wednesday.

Gold trades with positive bias; Fed hike bets cap gains ahead of US NFP

Gold attracts fresh buyers during the Asian session, following the previous day's volatile price swings and a late pullback from an over one-week high. The US Dollar edges lower on the back of Wednesday's softer-than-expected US macro data and turns out to be a key factor supporting the commodity for the second consecutive day.

Ripple and Stellar build on recovery as traders turn cautiously bullish

Ripple and Stellar extend recovery as improving market sentiment supports a rebound. XRP trades above $1.05 while XLM climbs past $0.199. Traders should remain cautious, as mixed on-chain and derivatives data indicate a modest bullish bias, and further upside may depend on sustained buying momentum.

A preview of NFP

The number is of much greater importance than usual as the Fed moves away from a forecasting framework and towards a current-data/rebuilding-credibility framework. While I have been pooh-poohing Warsh’s hawkish opener, I am also open to the idea that if he is serious about rebuilding credibility, he can find enough hawkish votes, and if June NFP is another hot one—July FOMC could be in play.

Just like Fed, is BoJ’s independence under threat?

When talking about central bank independence, most of the focus has been on Donald Trump’s pressure on the Federal Reserve. But a similar story, a quieter one for now, seems to be happening on the other side of the Pacific: Japan’s government may be testing the Bank of Japan’s independence.