You no doubt have heard in recent weeks that the US Federal Reserve has shifted their bias from raising rates to cutting rates—perhaps aggressively as early as next week. How fragile is the global economy if the Fed needs to consider cutting rates while the economy is at full employment of 3.6%? I think extremely fragile and massively leveraged. Low rates are likely here for a long time and it will have implications for your portfolios.

It was only a few months ago (the March DOT plots) the Fed was telling us that rates would be going up and now the market has priced in almost 3 rate cuts in 2019. Does global trade mater that much to world GDP and the markets? YOU BET!!! The foreign exchange markets provide some insight. Economies that rely more on TRADE for growth (like Germany and Japan…and formerly China) the foreign exchange rates matter a lot.

As trade matters go, currency exchange rates are a major factor. There is talk in the market that in order to do a trade deal with China (and get re-elected), Trump needs a weaker US dollar and hence his recent pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut rates. A weaker US dollar versus the Chinese Yuan allows China to weaken their currency to offset the economic impact of US tariffs. And as you have probably heard many times from me and others, the vast majority of tariffs a born by US consumers. It’s the foreign exchange markets that would need to adjust so that overall price increases are mitigated.

Here is the Math

A Chinese good costs $40 to the American company importing it. Tariffs are added at 25% and now costs $50 to import. The Chinese exchange rate to the US$ is about 7 yuan per US dollar. So in Chinese currency terms, the product costs 280 yuan before tariffs. The Chinese merchant does not have to pay any more at all to sell the product, all the cost is born by the importer (paid to the US Treasury). Now assuming the same product can be manufactured in the US or some other market for less than $50 (the new cost after tariffs), the importer would/could source the product elsewhere or pass the cost to clients or eat some in terms of lower profits (likely some combination). But the price has gone up. Now if the foreign exchange of the Chinese currency changes to 8.75 yuan per 1 US dollar (a 25% decline), than the cost to the US importer is now $32 plus the 25% tariff or a total of $40 or the same as it was before tariffs, while the Chinese merchant still gets their 280 yuan. A stronger US$ is generally bad for earnings of US companies where a significant portion of their sales (about half) comes from foreign sources. It also stresses global markets that are leveraged to US lending. Perhaps no coincidence that the weakest level ever for the Chinese currency (and arguably where Trump started buying Chinese Steel to build with) was in the 80s and 90s where they rapidly depreciated their currency to compete with the world on trade.

Chinese Yuan per US$

Trump wants the Fed to cut rates so the US$ weakens, because he knows he is going to go after Germany and Japan on auto tariffs once he’s done a deal with China. We expect China to play hardball and push a trade deal into 2020 as to stress Trump for a better deal going into his re-election risks. You had better believe these are strategic geopolitical decisions as much as they are economic ones. Expect these trade wars to add much more market volatility heading into 2020 as long as President Trump insists on using tariffs has his weapon of choice. The recent negotiation with Mexico has shown that he will continue to use it to get what he wants.

US$ Trade Weighted Index (Developed Markets)

We see the December equity market lows breaking before we can see sustainable new highs in equity markets. The fact that the Fed has to cut rates should remind you how fragile the world markets are – not a bullish reason to buy equities. The weakening economic data and hopes for rate cuts to save the day is likely misplaced.