China Cuts Tariffs, Lagarde’s Concern, U.S. Jobs: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) --

Good morning Americas. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the day:

• China will halve tariffs on some $75 billion of imports from the U.S. later this month, reciprocating a U.S. action and likely satisfying part of the interim trade deal
• European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said a decade of crisis fighting has left policy makers with few options for more monetary stimulus, just as new concerns such as the coronavirus outbreak arise
  • Meanwhile, an unexpected drop in German factory orders suggests Europe’s largest economy hasn’t yet seen the worst of its slowdown
• The U.S. job market probably got off to a healthy start in 2020 but may also lose some of the luster President Donald Trump boasted about this week
• Switzerland is in danger of being labeled a currency manipulator by the Trump administration, a decade after it ran afoul of the U.S. over banking secrecy
• Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid’s ambition to lift U.K. economic growth toward its post-war average of almost 3% a year is “quite unrealistic,” according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research

To contact the reporter on this story: David Goodman in London at dgoodman28@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net, Brian Swint

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