US-China Phase 1, Now What?

January 16, 2020 — Mitul Kotecha

Now that the long awaited Phase 1 deal has been signed between the US and China (significantly taking place in the White House) and details finally released (in a 94 page document) it’s worth asking whether much has actually changed.  After all, China still faces (high) tariffs on around two-thirds of its exports to the US while the deal does little to end Chinese state subsidies.  In return the US offers little aside from removing tariff increases.  Intellectual property transfer commitments agreed in the deal are mostly not new as China had already addressed most of these. 

Ironically the magnitude of Chinese purchases, ($77.7bn in manufactured goods, $32bn in agricultural goods, $52.4bn in energy and $37.9bn in services to Dec 2021) means that the Chinese State will have to be even more active in influencing its economy.  The reality is that to achieve this is going to be extremely difficult if not highly unlikely though this may ultimately not matter if China is seen to significantly increase its US purchases.

Looking ahead don’t expect China to be as agreeable on a Phase 2 deal; any such deal would touch on far more sensitive issues.  The likelihood of this being agreed and signed ahead of US elections or maybe at all, is low.  However, in the near term, the deal keeps the risk taps open and avoids any near-term escalation while President Trump walks away with another notch on his belt.  What it doesn’t do is stop any of the US non-tariff barriers, export controls etc, that will still hurt Chinese companies and push China to develop its own technology. Chinese growth will not get much of an uplift from the deal while markets have already largely priced it in.

The commitment from China on the Chinese yuan (CNY) looks vague (achieve market determined FX rate, strengthen underlying fundamentals, refrain from competitive devaluations, avoid large scale, persistent, one-sided intervention), but China will at least avoid any sharp devaluations (of the type experienced in mid-2015, Jan 16), not that they would want to do that again given the negative consequences on its markets/economy.  And as it is China has not been intervening significantly in FX markets for a long while so this should not be difficult either.

Posted in China, Currencies, Economics, Economy, equity markets, Trade, Trump, US, US administration. Tags: , , , . 1 Comment »

Limited Relief

October 16, 2019 — Mitul Kotecha

Now that the dust has settled on the US-China limited ‘Phase 1’ deal formulated at the end of last week markets can look to other events/data this week.  Prominent among these are Brexit discussions, which look as though they are carrying over to today as discussions towards a final deal intensify (more on this in another post).  However, casting a shadow over markets today is the news that China has threatened retaliation against the US after the House of Representatives passed a bill on reviewing the preferential treatment for HK.

Stepping back, regarding the trade deal it was probably the easiest one on the table from China’s perspective.  The US agreed to hold back on raising tariffs on $250bn of Chinese goods while China agreed to increase agricultural purchases and give limited access to its financial markets.

However, it was no “love fest”.  It is very narrowly focused, doesn’t role back previous tariffs, does little to change the growth narrative, nor does it deal with the tougher structural issues and enforcement mechanisms etc.  It is also vague on the Chinese currency, renminbi. In any case China had already highlighted and strongly hinted at increased agricultural purchases over recent weeks

Yes, there was some vague commitment to address intellectual property (IP) issues, something that hawks in the US administration have been pushing for but this is akin to closing the barn door after the horse has bolted. China has already tightened up IP regulations at home and in fact is now keen to protect its own IP so it has a big incentive to tighten up IP rules.

The US administration was probably more than happy to avoid another increase in tariffs on China given the desire not to fuel more market instability, growing focus on elections next year and to show some form of progress to take the attention away from the impeachment inquiries.  Implementation of the next tariffs round on December 15 is unclear but given the above it could be delayed or scrapped.  That would be more substantial progress.

Over the short term markets will be relieved that tensions on trade are not worsening though the passage of the bill on Hong Kong by the US House of Representatives threatens to increase tensions on another front.  The bottom line is that there is some breathing space on the trade front, with the President Trump stating that it may take up to five weeks to complete the deal.  Some form of signing may take place at the Apec Summit in Chile in mid-November.

Posted in Asia, Brexit, China, Economics, Economy, emerging markets, Trump, US, US administration. Tags: , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Will The Risk Rally Endure?

September 6, 2019 — Mitul Kotecha

There has been a definitive turnaround in risk sentiment this week, with equities rallying and bonds falling.  Whether it can be sustained is another question. I think it will be short-lived.

Markets are pinning their hopes on trade talks which have been agreed be US and Chinese officials to take place in October.  These would be the first official talks since July and follow an intensification of tariffs over recent weeks.  However, talks previously broke up due to a lack of progress on various structural issues and there is no guarantee that anything would be different this time around.  Nonetheless, such hopes may be sufficient to keep market sentiment buoyed in the short term.

Data overnight was bullish for risk sentiment, with the US August ADP employment report revealing private sector gains of +195k, which was higher than expected.  The US ISM non-manufacturing index was also stronger than expected, rising to 56.4 in August from 53.7 previously.  This contrasted with the slide in the manufacturing PMI, which slipped in contraction below 50, reported earlier this week.  The data sets up for a positive outcome for the US August jobs report to be released later today, where the consensus (Bloomberg) is for a 160k increase in payrolls and for the unemployment rate to remain at 3.7%.

As risk appetite has improved the US dollar has come under pressure, falling from its recent highs.  Nonetheless, the dollar remains at over two year highs despite speculation that the US authorities are on the verge of embarking on intervention to weaken the currency.  While I think such intervention is still very unlikely given that it would do little to change the factors driving the dollar higher, chatter about potential intervention may still keep dollar bulls wary.  While intervention is a risk, I don’t think this stop the USD from moving even higher in the weeks ahead.

Conversely China’s currency, the renminbi has reversed some of its recent losses, but this looks like a temporary retracement rather than a change in trend.  China’s economy continues to weaken as reflected in a series of weaker data releases and a weaker currency is still an effective way to alleviate some of the pressure on Chinese exporters. As long as the pace of decline is not too rapid and does incite a sharp increase in capital outflows, I expect the renminbi to continue to weaken.

Posted in Bond markets, central banks, China, Currencies, Economics, emerging markets, equity markets, Federal Reserve, FX, Trade, Trump, US, US administration. Tags: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »

US-China Trade War: The Gloves Are Off

August 26, 2019 — Mitul Kotecha

The US-China trade war took another step for the worse over the weekend. China announced tariffs on the US of between 5- 10% on $75bn of US imports from September.  Chinese tariffs target 5,078 products including agriculture and small aircraft as well as crude oil. The US responded by increasing its tariffs on $250bn of Chinese imports from 25% to 30% while increasing duties from 10% to 15% on $300bn of Chinese imports to the US from September 1.   President Trump initially said he had “second thoughts” on additional tariffs, but these were clarified to state that “he regrets not raising the tariffs higher”.

The gloves are off on both sides. As indicated by the editorial in China’s People’s Daily states that China will fight the trade war to the end while influential Chinese journalist Hu Xijin said that “we have nothing more to lose, while the US is starting to lose China”, highlights China’s tougher stance.  Meanwhile President Trump is looking at the “Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977” in forcing US companies to quit China.

Asia’s markets have responded in pain, with stocks and currencies falling while safe havens such as US Treasuries have been in demand.  Indeed the 10-year US Treasury yield has fallen to a three-year low.  Markets have priced in even further easing by the Fed FOMC, with almost three rate cuts by the PBoC discounted in by the end of this year.  Equity futures point to a weak opening in US equities today.

One casualty is the Chinese yuan, which took another leg lower today, having fallen by close to 7% since mid-April.  Further pressure on the yuan is likely, but China may not be too concerned as long as the pace of weakness does not get out of hand. China may try to control the pace of the decline to prevent a repeat of the FX reserves drain seen in mid-2015 and Jan 2016. At the least yuan depreciation will act as a buffer for Chinese exporters against increased US tariffs.  However, expect further yuan depreciation to be met with increased criticism and perhaps more US action, with the US already having labeled China a currency manipulator.

Posted in Asia, Asian currencies, China, Commodities, Currencies, Economics, Economy, emerging markets, equity markets, Federal Reserve, Financial crisis, FX, Interest rates, Monetary Policy, Trade, Trump, US, US administration. Tags: , , . Leave a Comment »

A Host Of Global Risks

August 13, 2019 — Mitul Kotecha

Last week was a tumultuous one to say the least.  It’s been a long time since so many risk factors have come together at the same time.  The list is a long one and includes the escalation of the US-China trade war, which last week saw President Trump announce further tariffs on the remaining $300bn of Chinese exports to the US that do not already have tariffs levied on them, a break of USDCNY 7.00 and the US officially naming China as a currency manipulator.

The list of risk factors afflicting sentiment also includes intensifying Japan-Korea trade tensions, growing potential for a no-deal Brexit, demonstrations in Hong Kong, risks of a fresh election in Italy, growing fears of another Argentina default, ongoing tensions with Iran and escalating tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir.

All of this is taking place against the background of weakening global growth, with officials globally cutting their growth forecasts and sharply lower yields in G10 bond markets.  The latest country to miss its growth estimates is Singapore, a highly trade driven economy and bellwether of global trade, which today slashed its GDP forecasts.

Central banks are reacting by easing policy.  Last week, the New Zealand’s RBNZ, cut its policy rate by a bigger than expected 50 basis points, India cut its policy rate by a bigger than expected 35 basis points and Thailand surprisingly cutting by 25 basis points.  More rate cuts/policy easing is in the pipeline globally in the weeks and months ahead, with all eyes on the next moves by the Fed.  Moving into focus in this respect will be the Jackson Hole central bankers’ symposium on 22/23 August and Fed FOMC minutes on 21 August.

After the abrupt and sharp depreciation in China’s currency CNY, last week and break of USDCNY 7.00 there is evidence that China wants to control/slow the pace of depreciation to avoid a repeat, even as the overall path of the currency remains a weaker one. Firstly, CNY fixings have been generally stronger than expected over recent days and secondly, the spread between CNY and CNH has widened sharply, with the former stronger than the latter by a wider margin than usual.  Thirdly, comments from Chinese officials suggest that they are no keen on sharp pace of depreciation.

Markets will remain on tenterhooks given all the factors above and it finally seems that equity markets are succumbing to pressure, with stocks broadly lower over the last month, even as gains for the year remain relatively healthy.  The US dollar has remained a beneficiary of higher risk aversion though safe havens including Japanese yen and Swiss Franc are the main gainers in line with the move into safe assets globally.  Unfortunately there is little chance of any turnaround anytime soon given the potential for any one or more of the above risk factors to worsen.

Posted in Asia, Asian currencies, central banks, China, Currencies, Economics, emerging markets, equity markets, eurozone, Federal Reserve, FX, India, Interest rates, Japan, Politics, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Trade, Trump, UK, US. Tags: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment »
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