Good morning π§οΈπͺοΈ. A typhoon passed through ππ°& it's gloomy outside, just like the mood of markets after:
a) JPO said hedgy words "act as approprioate"
b) Carney speech on the dollar & digital $
c) China raising tariffs to 30% from 25% on 75bn
d) Trump raised 300bn tariffs to 15%
Facts of tariffs so far:
a) China imports from the US roughly 120bn & tariffed 110bn so got 10bn left & so to ESCALATE it needs to raise the level as volume limited
b) That happened w/ 75bn raising by 5% so items like US crude went from 25% to 30%
c) US imported ~550bn & so far
Events leading to today:
June '18: πΊπΈ25% tariffs on 34b; π¨π³ retaliates w/ 25% on 34
Aug '18: πΊπΈ25% on 16b; π¨π³ same
Sept '18: πΊπΈ10% on 200b that'll be raised to 25% (1 Jan)
π¨π³ retaliates w/ 5% on 60b
Truce
May '19: πΊπΈ raises 10% to 25% on 200b
June '19: π¨π³ raises 5-25% on 60bn
Not yet tariffed by both sides but WILL starting 1 September 2019, yes this Sunday:
a) πΊπΈ tariffs on the remaining (see chart ππ») 300bn by 10% that later exempt 156bn (mostly consumer goods till 15 December)
b) China retaliates w/ raising 5% on existing tariffs of 75bn so +5% ππ»
ππ»:
c) πΊπΈ Raising 5% on existing to 250bn to 30% on 1 October 2019.
By 1 October 2019: China tariffs on the US ranging from 10-30% of 110bn of goods & the US got 30% on 250bn of goods & 15% on 300bn of goods (w/ 156bn delayed til 15 Dec)
Basically all of trade b/n US&China ππ»ππ»
d) By 15 December, unless there are efforts to delay tariffs, there will massive front-loading for fear of this happening & guess what?
WE WILL HAVE TARIFFS ON ALMOST ALL OF US CHINA TRADE.
But that never ends there. Watch investment.
70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China led by the CCP is on, wait for it:
1 October 2019, which is the same date that the 25% of 250bn goes to 30% & obvs a month before on 1 September 15% on 144bn (156bn to be applied on 15 December 19.
About that September talkπ¬..
As a recap: Notice that the "bark" much stronger than "bites" to manage expectations & actions always surprise u w/ lower magnitude but trend is escalation.
Meaning, worst case scenario now new normal & u rejoice when it escalates but less than "bark"ππ»
As in the 10% to 15% of 144bn of goods on 1 September 19 (15% on 156bn of consumer goods 15 December) & 25% to 30% for 250bn of mostly intermediate goods on 1 October may not be realized, which u'll rejoice but only b/c ur expectations are managed. Don't forget that norms change
Trump: Non-committal in China tariff delay. Told you. He just puts it out there so you price the WORST & then takes a bit away & then when it happens you will think it is GOOD NEWS.
True story. This is what happened since late Jan 2018. SPX futures up 1% vs -1% this morning.
Do you know what happens after every escalation so far for trade-war? Deescalation by both China & the USA (yep, true story), albeit short-term reprieve until it escalates again, kind of like a dance to get to know each other's limit...
Same script still plays to buy timeππ»
#Breaking Mofcom's Gao (de-escalating): Trade escalation not good for π¨π³, πΊπΈ; πΊπΈ & π¨π³ in effective contact; π¨π³won't discriminate against foreign firms; Won't crack down on foreign firms; discussing πΊπΈ visits in Sept; π¨π³ has ample tools to respond but thinks should discuss removal
β’ β’ β’
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Happy to be back in Asia. Paris was great for many reasons - but mostly because the vibe in Europe is much better as people feel more empowered by change that allows people to zoom out from usual distress over political stalemate, even if challenging.
What do I tell clients? Well, the same as I usually do. When you look at data, don't get fixated on a point in a series. Non-farm payroll/jobs data is an example. Markets get so fixated on what the expectations are & whether results are a beat or not. But what we should look at is a trend over time. Revisions happen. Downward revisions or upward. Seasonality happens (strikes/weather/etc). But what does the trend tell you & what does that mean for policy reaction function?
Well, if you zoom out, then what we see is that job gains are SLOWING in the US. And labor market data is lagging.
The ISM, both manufacturing and services, both point to slowing activity.
Meanwhile, we have CPI coming out in May - markets expect 2.5%YoY from 2.3% in April.
So what? What will le Fed do?
Inflation is an interesting figure. Why? Because it mirrors what Trump's doing on tariffs and also the dollar going lower, which means imports cost more now.
Both tell you that US goods inflation should rise over time. But what does that mean for US CPI? Well, most weights for US CPI is housing/services, which are non-tradeable in nature.
So while US CPI is rising, the Fed will want to see if core PCE is rising. Anyway, if employment is softer over time, and inflation is rising, doesn't that constraint the Fed from seeing through the fog and know what to do?
Trump tariffs. Where are the powers coming from? Well, he has a menu of tariff options. It's the only tax that the president can incur without congress.
For Reciprocal Tariffs, he used the International Emergency Economics Power Act (IEEPA), which has an advantage of SPEED and SCOPE but disadvantage in FOUNDATION or legality.
Why? Well, he declared that the TRADE DEFICIT is the national emergency.
The US Court of International Trade said that he MISUSED the IEEPA, as in the foundation of the "emergency" is not right.
Trump team knew this. They know the laws. They decided for SCOPE and SPEED. What happens next?
Well, they appeal. And eventually, it will be the Supreme Court that will decide. But the foundation of his "emergency" was always being questioned.
Irrespective, for markets, there was already a Trump put, and a clear one. He himself sees these "reciprocal tariffs" as maximalist positions anyway.
Remember that he has other powers to choose from. Section 232 has a STRONGER FOUNDATION but takes a while. You need consultation and etc so it takes time.
The +25% steel & aluminum tariffs for example is from Trump 1.0 and he's just removing exemptions + raising alum from 10% to 25%.
Happy Memorial Day to Americans! And good morning to Asia!
Let's talk about something very topical. Debt. Yes, it has risen. How much debt do we have really? Who owns it? Why is cost of debt an issue?
Can the US solve its debt crisis?
This chart is my fav chart. I show stock of debt & then flow of debt (change since 2019 in orange bubble). Debt matters in terms of who owns it, which sector, etc.
Who is the biggest debt of them all? Well, Japan. It is also the biggest creditor to the world (lending money). Japanese debt is unique in that because of weak private sector, the government has been just expanding like crazy because the households and corporates just sit on savings.
Okay, why is this important? Well, those savings traditionally invested in their own debt (used to be very low yielding on the longer end) and also OTHERS' debt, USA + other emerging markets, also Europeans etc.
The Japanese sovereign yield curve is interesting not just for Japanese lifers, banks & JGB strategists but also for everyone else.
What has happened? Well, per usual they will run fiscal deficit. Nothing new. But the BOJ also owns like 48% of this debt and wants to reduce, but very hard because lifers etc don't want to buy so much more of this supply.
So what happens? The yield curve steepens. What is a yield curve? Well, you can borrow short-term (overnight) or for a long time (30 to 40 year in Japan) at a set rate. Japan has been running very close to zero rate for a long time.
So debt is not an issue if your servicing costs were close to zero.
But the longer, esp the 40-yr is now 3.5%. Yep!
The shorter end, which is policy rate is 0.5%.
US April inflation came over night softer, and that's no surprise really - we knew that energy, food and service costs were going lower. Everyone said, well, what pain for China if April exports were strong, not to the US of course, but to the world (+8.1%)YoY. The same is said about US CPI. It's actually slower to 2.3%YoY despite a very soft USD & tariffs that started since February.
What does that mean? Why did the the US-China both come to the table to stop the embargo of trade?
Can both of these arguments be true? Of course. First, we must talk about these different balance sheets. They are one and the same. But they interact differently.
CPI is a domestic phenomenon. US inequality/lack of affordable housing/high costs of college/healthcare/etc are DOMESTIC IN NATURE. We call it NON-TRADEABLE. Sure, higher steel & timber make building a house more expensive. Higher appliances also make it expensive. But let's be honest here, the biggest costs of the house is the land & next costs is the regulations and the permits and the actual time and capital erecting it.
California/NYC/Seattle where the jobs are all have regulations that make it very expensive to build. And that has been the case during LOW TARIFF REGIME.
So listen, just think if you live anywhere. When you get a paycheck, where does your money go? Well, if you rent or mortgage, then it's HOUSING.
Next, if you live in the US and send your children out of state or private for education, it's not a rounding error on two middle class incomes.
Of course, another essential - FOOD.
Another one is transport - that includes FUEL + Car (and indirect cost is TIME).
Goods, while you know, nice to have, durable goods you buy once and hopefully last you a decade or two, like a washing machine or a fridge or a microwave.
Toys, definitely like you buy according to age and once & don't repeat and prolly can get used because everyone disposes of this once the child is done.
So when you look at US inflation, the largest weights aren't GOODS or IMPORTED goods for a consumer.
It may be a very big part of a producer that imports intermediates. Say an oil driller that needs steel to build infra to drill or a domestic producer of appliances that need parts that are cheaper to source, say China.
Irrespective, an AVERAGE American person isn't going to feel tariffs. They will feel it via the news, via tiktok, via social media, via the financial markets that have exposure to the higher costs, but they are not feeling it much if they don't have a lot of financial assets.
So the reality is that inflation in the US is GOING DOWN for core goods. Egg inflation is lower after a flu supply shock. US food exporters will sell more domestically if selling abroad faces tariffs. But food isn't the bulk of inflation.
It's the services like housing etc. And they are going down.
Of course - China would say it didnβt care that there was an embargo on Chinese goods by itβs #1 customer but a 1trn surplus country with manufacturing share of GDP key to investment and consumption & indirect sector like services would care.
Why? Factories shut first (impact on China), shortages/empty shelves later (impact on the US & due to front loading much later & most goods are discretionary), & so the pain that China feels from trade war is real while the US is expectations of pain via financial assets movement, which may or may not come.
And the reality is who blinked/caved first doesnβt matter. But anyone who laughed at this & said China can just hunker down & accept massive unemployment of 5 to 8millions is not realizing the importance of jobs, especially manufacturing job.
It anchors the entire economy, including services.
Like people that lose steady paying jobs that pay for pensions etc will not want services like restaurant, movies, haircuts as often, nails, music lessons for kids etc.
Not all services are equal. Services were lost during COVID & never recovered & anyone who has lived in a country with high services & informal jobs know that u cannot steadily gain income on gigs.
U need a steady pay check. At the national level, it is millions & hundreds of millions account compounding to give national savings and investment.
UK-US trade-deal and what does it tell you about Asian trade deals?
The UK got 100k auto for 10% vs 232 25% for autos & that's basically 100% of UK auto exports to the US (exported 104k in 2024)
UK got jet engines & plane parts at 0%, which is also a top export
UK got 0% on steel but the UK is on the verge of closing the last steel plant, which is Chinese owned anyway, so no benefit here but maybe it will help beef up some production.
10% on the rest of exports.
Mutual reduction of tariffs on ethanol + beef (agri win for the US but not so much)
For autos, given the 10% tariff but at 100k quota, which is basically all of UK autos, there is no room for "rerouting" of other autos that won't get tariffed. Meaning, the lower tariff from 25% to 10% but with a quota is an interesting move that sets up for EU trade talks on autos.
Steel - UK not a threat so 0% means maybe UK can beef up product but less competitive than the US as the US is almost self-sufficient w/ steel
Agri - US will need to produce beef that UK standard to export. I suppose that can't be hard
Ethanol is at 0% tariff so a win for US agri. For US soybean producers etc, ethanol is a win but how big is it if its biggest export market, China, is shut?
There are talks that the US will slash tariffs on Chinese goods. But let's remind ourselves this:
The US has 20% tariffs on China from Trump 1.0 to Biden (roughly) + 20% of fentanyl tariff on China + reciprocal that was later escalated to 145%.
If the US lowers 145% to say 50%, you still have close to 100% tariffs on China on most goods and higher levels for say autos.