The dollar is sliding as US-China trade war materializes

AP/Jae C. Hong

• The dollar slid early Friday, even after a stronger-than-expected jobs report.
• The US and China imposed sweeping tariffs on one another just after midnight.
• Follow the greenback in real time here.

The dollar fell Friday as markets weighed a stronger-than-expected jobs market with an escalating trade battle between the US and China.

The greenback was down 0.5% on the US dollar index to 93.98 as the Labor Department released its June jobs report. The US added 213,000 jobs last month, compared with economist expectations of 195,000, but wage growth remained soft.

Earlier on Friday, President Donald Trump followed through with tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese products early Friday, prompting in-kind retaliation from Beijing. The tariffs mark some of the first material movements toward a trade war between the world's largest economies.

The Trump administration's first round of duties hits major Chinese technology products, and another round of tariffs on $16 billion worth of goods is set to go into effect as soon as August. Trump has threatened to target an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.

China's Ministry of Commerce said Friday in a statement that the US had launched "the largest trade war in economic history." The department then released a list of 545 US products, including agricultural products and vehicles, hit by tariffs.

Separately on Friday, data showed the US trade deficit in May dropped to its lowest level in 19 months as exports rose to a record level. But the trade gap between the US and China widened sharply, Commerce Department said.

The dollar is up 2.45% this year.

Markets Insider