CURRENCIES: Trump Says He's Doubling Turkish Tariffs As Lira Slides
August 10 2018 - 10:06AM
Dow Jones News
By Anneken Tappe
President Donald Trump said he authorized the doubling of
existing steel and aluminum tariffs on imports from Turkey in
response to a dramatic slide of more than 15% in the Turkish lira
on Friday.
The lira was last down 18.4% against the buck, according to
Factset, marking its biggest loss since February 2001. One dollar
bought 6.5731 lira, compared with 5.5426 late Thursday in New
York.
(https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1027899286586109955)
Trump has previously called out trade partners' weak currencies
versus the greenback, and has openly favored a weaker U.S.
currency. Trump's negative view of the strong dollar is predicated
on goods priced in weaker currencies being more attractive on the
global market.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index hit its strongest level since July
2017 on Friday.
U.S.-Turkish relations have been rocky of late over the
detention of a U.S. pastor by Turkish authorities.
Earlier Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a speech
called on his population to exchange dollars and gold for lira
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/turkish-lira-at-fresh-session-low-as-erdogan-calls-for-citizens-to-sell-foreign-currencies-2018-08-10)
to stave off its fall. He also said "Turkey won't surrender to
economic hitmen."
Friday's events rattled global markets, dragging European
stocks, including the STOXX Europe 600 Index and the FTSE 100 .
U.S. stocks also opened lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial
Average , S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all kicking the session
off in the red.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 10, 2018 09:51 ET (13:51 GMT)
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