Investing.com — The Mexican peso fell sharply on Sunday, while the Canadian dollar fell amid growing concerns that US President Donald Trump will follow through on his tariff threats, after he imposed hefty import duties on Colombia.
The Mexican peso was hit harder, with the pair – which measures the amount of peso needed to buy one dollar – rising 1.1% to 20.4949 pesos.
The Canadian dollar also weakened, as the pair rose 0.1 percent to 1.4381 Canadian dollars.
The index rose by about 0.2% against a basket of currencies, although it suffered sharp losses since last week.
Both currencies were hurt by growing fears that Trump will carry out his threats to impose import tariffs of up to 25% on Mexico and Canada, after the president imposed a 25% tariff on all imports from Colombia.
Trump imposed the tariffs after Colombia refused to allow two US military planes carrying deported migrants to land in the country, punishing the Latin American country for refusing to comply with his immigration policies.
Trump warned that tariffs would rise to 50% by next week in the event of non-compliance, which would lead to tense relations between the two countries.
The US President had threatened to impose similar tariffs on Canada and Mexico over immigration issues and what he considers unfair trade practices. Trump also raised the possibility of imposing 10% tariffs on China, which could be imposed on February 1.
