As confusion mounts around US President Donald Trump’s tariff plans, the dollar saw gains over the pound and euro. Growing nearly 0.2% on the euro and over 0.3% on the pound, the dollar regained some of its losses from earlier in the week.
Trump’s 90-day trade tariff pause was due to expire today, sending import duties on some of its biggest trading partners soaring. In the three-month hiatus, the US managed to make only one trade agreement, that with the UK, which makes it less surprising he signed an executive order on Monday to extend the pause to August 1.
However, as well as those extensions, Trump suggested new tariffs on foreign drugs and copper imports. The news sent copper prices to a record high on Tuesday.
While the pound is somewhat shielded against US tariff confusion, thanks to its fresh trade agreement, it is not protected from market movements elsewhere in the world. As we’ve seen throughout 2025, the pound rarely wins when there is global economic confusion and instability.
Although the euro also suffered losses against the dollar on Tuesday, they were significantly less than those of the pound. That is despite the news that the EU is preparing to sign a trade deal with the US that will lock in higher tariffs than those agreed with the UK.
With few data releases scheduled for this week, besides on update on UK GDP on Friday, there is little to challenge the disruption of Trump’s tariff announcements. More countries are due to hear their trade duties fate today, making the future for the pound, euro and dollar decidedly unpredictable.
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