GBP/USD coils as investors await tariff clarity again

• GBP/USD stuck to near-term downside as the Trump tariff cycle begins anew.
• Trump has delayed the July 9 tariff deadline to August 1, says there won't be anymore delays.
• Markets are overwhelmingly betting on future tariff delays.

GBP/USD churned the charts near 1.3600 as the market grapples with inconsistent policy messaging on President Donald Trump's whipsaw tariff policies. Reciprocal tariffs announced and immediately delayed in early April have been pushed back from July 9 to August 1, and in the course of 24 hours President Trump has announced that further delays or tariff suspensions both can and cannot be expected.

Adding further fuel to the tariff fire, President Trump announced a new 50% tariff on all copper imports into the US, which he insisted will take effect "today" on Tuesday. Trump also reiterated additional double-digit tariffs on all goods from a handful of countries, including across-the-board 25% import taxes on all goods from South Korea and Japan. It remains unclear how the Trump administration intends to shift those costs onto the target foreign countries instead of US consumers and importers, who traditionally bear the cost of tariffs and import taxes.

The economic calendar remains a thin affair this week, leaving investors to grapple with ongoing trade war fears and a general lack of clarity from the Trump administration. Despite some near-term bearish sentiment, the majority of investors expect the Trump team to find reasons to cancel or suspend tariffs once again. The sea-change flood of trade deals that President Trump and key Trump staffers have been promising are either already on the President's desk or right around the corner have yet to materialize. Investors remain sceptical that material progress on strong-arm trade deals involving over-taxing US constituents will yield meaningful results.

GBP/USD price action

GBP/USD continues to churn at the lower end of a near-term pullback after backsliding from multi-year highs near 1.3800 at the beginning of July. Price action has since tilted downward; however, Cable continues to trade on the north side of the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) near 1.3470. Technical oscillators have eased back from overbought conditions, but near-term downside momentum could still have room to run.

GBP/USD daily chart