18.01.201903:38 Forex Analysis & Reviews: EC and the United States: a new trade war between the EU and the USA is very close

The European currency again failed to gain a foothold above key resistance levels and began to gradually lose ground against the US dollar in the afternoon after the release of a good report on the US labor market, as well as before the publication of the report of the US Department of Commerce, in which the import of cars from the European Union will be important.

The trade war is gaining momentum.

It is expected that in the above report it will be clear whether US President Donald Trump will return to a protectionist policy towards the EU, since from an economic point of view, the import of cars is strategically important and can pose a threat to US national security. For example, last year tariffs on Chinese goods were introduced in this way.

Even today, EU authorities have imposed restrictions on the import of steel in order to combat the consequences of US trade policy, which makes it possible for the US president to verify the need for import duties on metals, which were introduced last year by the United States.

The European Commission said that the new measures involve the introduction of quotas on imports of 26 categories of goods, as well as 25% duty on imports in excess of this quota. This decision will take effect from February 4 and will replace the temporary solution, which was introduced in July 2018.

Today's data on inflation in the eurozone, as yesterday in Germany, fully coincided with the forecasts of economists, which is likely to force the European Central Bank to adhere to a wait-and-see approach at a meeting to be held next week. However, the main focus, of course, will be shifted towards the deterioration of the growth prospects of the European economy in 2019.

According to the statistics agency, the consumer price index CPI of the eurozone in December this year remained unchanged and year-on-year grew by 1.6%, fully coinciding with the forecasts of economists. The Core CPI core consumer price index, which does not take into account volatile categories, rose 0.5% in December compared to November and 1.0% year-on-year. The consumer price index of the eurozone excluding tobacco products in December was 1.5%.

The US labor market data provided some support to the US dollar. According to a report from the US Department of Labor, the number of initial jobless claims for the week from 6 to 12 January fell by 3,000 to 213,000. Economists had expected the number of applications to be 220,000.

Activity increased in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States in January. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, the index of business activity rose to 17.0 points in January 2019 against 9.1 points in December, while economists had expected the index to reach 8.0 points in January. The report notes that companies remain optimistic for the next six months, with more than 46% of the companies surveyed expecting increased activity.

As for the technical picture of the EURUSD pair, the bears are trying to resume the downward movement in the market after an unsuccessful attempt of bulls to return to the game. The breakout of 1.1375 may lead to a larger decline in risky assets with the update of the lows of 1.1340 and 1.1310. In the case of another false breakout at 1.1375, the bulls may be willing to return, which will lead to a powerful upward momentum with a test and a breakthrough of the intermediate resistance of 1.1415 and the main goal of updating a high of 1.1450.