U.S.-China Trade Deal Finally Here

 | Jan 16, 2020 05:58

Today is the day the United States and China have been preparing for…the day the two countries sign “Phase One” of the US-China trade deal. President Trump and the China lead negotiator for the deal, Liu He, will meet in Washington today to formally sign the deal.

The markets already know what Phase One is all about… primarily, larger agriculture purchases by China from the US in exchange for “some” tariff reductions. China also was un-designated by the US as a currency manipulator. However, as my colleague Matt wrote about earlier, tariffs are expected to remain in place. What does that mean for the stock markets and the fx markets moving forward? There have been comments and speculation that “Phase Two” of the deal may not begin to after the US Presidential election in November. As such, the markets may be left in limbo until the election.

Yesterday, when discussing the CPI data we addressed the DXY. We noted how there was a confluence of resistance and it was that it was decision time for the DXY. It is not a surprise that this coincided with the signing of the trade deal, as markets are deciding what to next. If the uncertainty of the trade deal is out of the way and China is longer a “currency manipulator”, one would the value of the US Dollar to weaken as the Chinese Yuan strengthens.