Donald Trump sparked a bout of tumult in financial markets hours after his inauguration as he threatened to hit Mexico and Canada with big tariffs.
Speaking in the Oval Office late on Monday, Trump said he could enact tariffs of 25 per cent against both countries as soon as February 1, repeating earlier threats to strike two of the US’s closest trading partners with levies to retaliate for weak border security and fentanyl trafficking.
Trump’s renewed warnings sent the Mexican peso sliding 1.1 per cent against the US dollar, and the Canadian dollar down 0.9 per cent as Tuesday’s trading session got under way in the Asia-Pacific region.