Investing.com - The dollar dropped on Monday on growing concerns that the multilateral trade regime will see sharp changes under President Donald Trump from a proposed border tax to potential other actions on import tariffs.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell 0.60% to 100.17, a pattern seen against the safe-haven yen with USD/JPY down 1.34% to 113.09. GBP/USD rose 1.04% 1.2503, while EUR/USD gained 0.40% to 1.0746.
Trump addressed U.S. manufacturing executives with a repeated promise to impose a border tax on firms that import products into the United States after moving American factories overseas and announced the country had abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact among a dozen nations. Trump's promises of tax cuts and higher federal spending continue to hold the market's attention, but details are sparse.
Trump also said Sunday he would start talks with Mexico and Canada to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
In his inauguration speech on Friday, Trump said his administration would put "America first" and also promised new roads, bridges and highways. But market sentiment was hit by the negative tone of the speech, which underlined uncertainty over how Trump will govern.
Meanwhile, the Mexican peso added to Friday’s strong gains after Trump’s inauguration speech didn't specifically mention Mexico. USD/MXN was down 0.97% at 21.3735 after ending Friday’s session down 1.64%.