Super Bowl Tariffs
Donald Trump became the first sitting President to attend the Super Bowl this weekend. He received media attention and applause from the crowd as the camera panned to him. That wasn’t the only surprise the President provided this weekend. As tariff season progresses, the President turned his sight to the key industries of Steel and Aluminium. The US imports the minority of its steel consumption from a host of nations including Mexico, Canada, Japan and Germany. Given the inclusion of Germany within this list and with markets dialled in to a European response to US tariffs, the EU’s reaction will be closely monitored.
Whilst punitive (not least to US construction), the scope of these prospective tariffs is narrower than those previously announced (and renounced) against Canada and Mexico. Markets therefore unsurprisingly took the announcement calmly in their stride today. However, their reaction was also likely a factor of the reversal in risk that took place last week when earlier tariffs were withdrawn or suspended.
Markets do not stand as sceptics of the White House, rather they seem cautious of the administration’s propensity to taper policy prior to implementation. The data calendar was light yesterday. However, releases following last week’s central banks decisions will commence from today. We hear from the BoE’s Andrew Bailey and Fed Chair Jay Powell today also. Markets remain sensitive to headlines largely of a political nature.
Discussion and Analysis by Charles Porter
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