LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) -The dollar extended its slide while crude prices curtailed their losses after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would tariff and tax countries to enrich Americans, overhaul the trade system and declare a national energy emergency.
COMMENTS:
RICK MECKLER, PARTNER, CHERRY LANE INVESTMENTS, NEW VERNON, NEW JERSEY
"The biggest reaction is what appears to be the delay on the tariffs. Of all the proposals that are being put forward, that was the one that was most likely to affect the market more dramatically both for its inflationary-potential and just for whatever retribution that would have been for it."
"When you say you're going to study and try to negotiate it after you said that you will do it on Day 1, I think that's encouraging for the market."
"I also think that the market's view is that a lot of the proposals of the Trump team are aspirational. They may not necessarily implement them or they will implement them slowly. But they did help him get elected. And also some of the proposals need development. The new team is just in place and so the idea of doing it on Day 1 was not realy realistic. So that's why the market is a little relieved on that."
MATT GERTKEN, CHIEF GEOPOLITICAL STRATEGIST, BCA RESEARCH (Research Note)
"We expect significant tariffs early in his administration, whether this week or in the coming three months, since the U.S. labor market is strong and the midterm elections are far away. Weak global manufacturing also gives Trump the advantage.. Later the ability to ratchet up trade pressure will decline and Trump will risk losing the historic opportunity he has to remake US trade relationships."
EUGENE EPSTEIN, HEAD OF TRADING AND STRUCTURED PRODUCTS, NORTH AMERICA, MONEYCORP NE,W JERSEY
"There are so many people surprised in some ways of how things are shaping up even though the playbook that Trump basically runs is exactly the same as the first four years. He uses tariffs as a negotiating tool. It seems like he will impose tariffs regardless. The question is how severe. He has a lot of flexibility though in how he can impose them."
"In terms of the dollar reaction, it certainly weakened a bit today, but utimately, the dollar has strengthened substantially and I think today's action changes the playbook for the forseeable future. Just because he did not sign sweeping tariffs on day one doesn't mean that that's not going to happen. Everybody is on the negotiating table."
"As far as position-taking goes, it's very important to stay calm and cautious. This is just the first day and there really have not been been much answers just yet. Just because he hasn't announced sweeping tariffs the first day, it means absolutely nothing in terms of long-term tariff policies. Trade policies with specific numbers, even for him, will probably have to have some semblance of official negotiations before making a decision."