The dollar fell on Wednesday as sources said Canada was ready to make a concession to the United States to resolve their talks over reworking the North American Free Trade Agreement, though lingering anxiety over U.S.-China trade tensions weighed.
Reuters reports that china will ask the World Trade Organization next week for permission to impose sanctions on the United States for Washington’s non-compliance with a ruling in a dispute over U.S. dumping duties.
“Worries about many things are still lingering so it becomes hard to shift to a mood of aggressive risk taking,” said Kumiko Ishikawa, senior analyst at Sony Financial Holdings.
“The dollar/yen rose yesterday, but those gains are gradually coming off as there isn’t a lot of appetite to take risk,” she said.
The dollar traded slightly lower after two Canadian sources with direct knowledge of Ottawa’s negotiating strategy said overnight Ottawa was ready to offer the United States limited access to the Canadian dairy market as a concession in negotiations to remake NAFTA.
Canada’s protected dairy industry is a major sticking point in NAFTA talks between the two countries. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland returned to Washington on Tuesday for talks aimed at rescuing NAFTA ahead of a looming Oct. 1 deadline.