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.

AUD/USD bulls regain control above 0.6950 amid USD retreat

AUD/USD regains traction and extends the previous day's bounce from the weekly low, aiming for 0.7000 in Asia on Friday. The overnight pullback in US bond yields keeps the US Dollar below an 18-month high, which in turn offers some support to the pair. Meanwhile, hawkish RBA expectations also keep the major underpinned.

USD/JPY holds gains near 158.00 after Japan's weak Household Spending data

USD/JPY clings to gains around 158.00 after data showed on Friday that Japan's Household Spending fell for the ninth straight month, undermining the Japanese Yen. Meanwhile, the US Dollar remains depressed as the overnight fall in US bond yields counters a hawkish Fed and geopolitical uncertainties, could cap any downside in the pair.

Gold remains range-bound below $4,200

Gold has given up some ground after an initial bullish attempt to reach weekly highs, returning to below the $4,200 mark per troy ounce on Friday. The US Dollar’s strong upside momentum, combined with rising US Treasury yields across the curve, seems to keep further gains in the yellow metal under scrutiny.

Has Bitcoin really escaped the macro forces it was built to fight?

Over 17 years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto designed Bitcoin (BTC) on the back of a global financial crisis as an alternative to the global monetary system outside the control of central banks, governments and traditional intermediaries. This raises a key question: has Bitcoin really become independent of the macroeconomic forces it was built to challenge?

The Euro is not the sick man of Europe. France's bond market is

EUR/USD remains under pressure, near the 17-month low of 1.1161 reached on Monday. The pair has lost more than 7% since its yearly peak, as concerns over France's public finances increasingly weigh on the single currency. But behind the weakness of the Euro (EUR), the problem does not necessarily lie with the European economy as a whole.