The White House announced a list of Chinese goods that could be subjected to new US tariffs. The US intends to impose a 25% tariff on 1,300 items of Chinese imports, including vehicles, medicines, and industrial technologies. These levies will bring roughly $50 billion per annum. Investors have no doubts that the trade conflict between the US and China is going to reach the boiling point soon. In the Asian session, the US dollar went into a nosedive. The USD/JPY pair is heading for 106.00. Nevertheless, market participants are alert to the US macroeconomic data later in the global trading day. Activity in China's service sector slowed in March. According to the private survey from Caixin Media, China's Services PMI fell to 52.3 in March, confounding the forecast for a gain to 54.5.
Australia presented an upbeat report, providing its national currency with support. Retail sales rose by 0.6% in February on a monthly basis from a 0.2% growth in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported today. Economists had expected a 0.3% rise. In response to the strong data, the AUD/USD pair surpassed 0.7710. However, a downward correction followed soon. Traders are anticipating reports of crucial importance from the US which will shed light on the labor market and non-manufacturing sector. In case of upbeat data, the US dollar is likely to regain strength today.