Investing.com - The U.S. dollar was lower against other currencies on Wednesday amid trade war tensions, while the pound was flat following Brexit uncertainty.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.17% to 94.06 as of 11:45 AM ET (15:45 GMT).
On Tuesday, China said it would impose new tariffs on U.S. goods worth $60 billion, effective Sept. 24. The new tariffs are in response to U.S. tariffs on Monday of 10% on $200 billion in Chinese goods, which will go up to 25% at the end of the year.
Meanwhile, trade developments with the U.S. and Canada continued, as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was going to need see “movement” before a deal could be reached.
"We've been very clear that we're interested in what could be a good deal for Canada, but we're going to need to see a certain amount of movement in order to get there," Trudeau said in Ottawa.
The Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland returned to Washington to continue trade negotiations. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Wednesday that the administration was ready to move forward on a North American trade deal without Canada.
The loonie fell against the dollar, with USD/CAD decreasing 0.20% to 1.2948.
Elsewhere, the dollar fell against the safe-haven yen, with USD/JPY down 0.15% to 112.20. In times of uncertainty, investors tend to invest in the Japanese yen, which is considered a safe asset during periods of risk aversion.
Meanwhile, sterling was flat after reports that Prime Minister Theresa May will reject the European Union’s proposed solution to the Irish border question. May is currently in Salzburg, Austria to discuss Brexit with European leaders. GBP/USD increased 0.11% to 1.3161. EUR/USD rose 0.18% to 1.1685.