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their reaction was also likely a factor of the reversal in risk that took place last week when earlier tariffs were withdrawn or suspended.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
Related Insights
Daily Brief – One in three
Charles Porter
Tue 4 Nov 2025
One in three Until recently, the market had held the probability of a rate cut at the Bank of England’s November meeting at near zero. Above-target inflation and insufficient evidence of faltering economic growth alone suggested the BoE would continue to adopt a wait and see approach. Combine that with the uncertainty of the UK […]
Daily Brief – Grinding lower
Charles Porter
Thu 6 Nov 2025
Grinding lower The key currency pairs of GBPUSD and EURUSD continue their slow but consistent grind lower. This story is not just one of dollar strength but also a rotation away from GBP and EUR, in favour of safe havens. Under performance in global equity markets continues to be a factor behind the market’s general […]
Daily Brief – A glimmer of (European) hope
Charles Porter
Tue 28 Oct 2025
A glimmer of (European) hope The ECB has made significant progress in cutting rates towards an accommodative level. The Eurozone saw evidence of cooling inflation much sooner than many economies and has been able to respond accordingly, cutting the deposit rate to 2%. The ECB will meet again this Thursday to publish its latest monetary […]
