The Mexican peso is taking off again
Monday's advance marks a third straight day of gains for the peso after President Donald Trump and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto exchanged barbs over Twitter regarding who would pay for the border wall.
The peso rallied as much as 1.3% on Thursday after Trump tweeted: "The U.S. has a 60 billion dollar trade deficit with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers of jobs and companies lost. If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting."
Peña Nieto responded with a tweet of his own, "This morning we have informed the White House that I will not attend the meeting scheduled for next Tuesday with the @POTUS." The Mexican president has repeatedly said Mexico would not pay for the border wall.
The Trump administration responded by threatening a 20% border tax on goods imported from Mexico and later suggested a border tax could be implemented on imports from everywhere.
On Friday, Trump tweeted: "Mexico has taken advantage of the U.S. for long enough. Massive trade deficits & little help on the very weak border must change, NOW!" The peso zoomed higher following the tweet, and extended its gains upon word the two presidents held an hour-long phone call to discuss the issue.
The peso has now gained almost 6% since bottoming at 22.0072 per dollar on January 19.
