AUD/USD tumbles to a five-year low below 0.6000 amid US-China tariffs war

• AUD/USD falls to around 0.5985 in Monday's early Asian session. 
• China hit back against Donald Trump's trade war. 
• US NFP rose by 228,000 in March, but the Unemployment Rate increased to 4.2%.

The AUD/USD pair tumbles to near 0.5985 for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic during the early Asian session on Monday. The Australian Dollar (AUD) weakens as China slapped a 34% tax on all US imports in retaliation for US President Donald Trump's tariffs, raising fear of a trade war between the United States and China. 

China announced last Friday that it will impose a 34% tax on all US imports, taking effect Thursday, as part of a retaliatory reaction to Trump's tariffs. This marks Beijing's toughest retaliation to the American leader's trade war. The concerns over trade tensions between the world's two biggest economies exert some selling pressure on the China-proxy as China is a major trading partner to Australia. 

Data released by the Labor Department on Friday showed that the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) was stronger than expected in March, rising by 228,000 from the revised 117,000 in February. Meanwhile,  the Unemployment Rate ticked up to 4.2% in March versus 4.1% prior, higher than the 4.1% forecast. 

The Federal Reserve (Fed) officials might wait until June to start cutting interest rates after the employment report showed stronger than expected jobs growth last month that eased concern about the state of the labor market. Still, the markets continue to price a full percentage point of Fed rate cuts by year-end and some chance of a fifth cut. The rising bets for more Fed rate reductions could weigh on the Greenback and might help limit the pair's losses.