The exchange rate between the American and Canadian dollar slid to a 2-month low of 1.32239 on Thursday. Weakness in the USD/CAD pair was mainly a result of President Trump’s comments on the negative impact the “strong dollar” is having on the American economy.
"It's very, very hard to compete when you have a strong dollar and other countries are devaluing their currency," Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
"I think our dollar is getting too strong, and partially that's my fault because people have confidence in me," he added.
Trump’s remarks pushed the U.S. Dollar Index down by 0.75 percent yesterday to its lowest rate in April.
The weakness in the greenback also heavily influenced the USD/CAD rate, which dropped 0.74 percent by the start of Thursday’s Asian FX trading session.
While the Canadian dollar was briefly trading today at a level not seen since February 28th, most of the CAD’s gains were wiped out on Thursday during the NY/London Forex session, as the U.S. dollar recovered a sizable portion of losses incurred on Wednesday.
At press time, the USD/CAD rate is trading around 1.3311 - just 0.1 percent below where it was trading prior to Trump’s comments.
CAD banknotes photo by Diego Torres Silvestre
