NZD/USD weakens below 0.6050 on fear of new Trump trade wars amid tariff threats

• NZD/USD softens to around 0.6020 in Friday’s early Asian session. 
• The 25 basis points (bps) rate cut by the Fed on Thursday was widely expected.
• Donald Trump’s proposals to raise tariffs could drag the Kiwi lower against the USD. 

The NZD/USD pair trades with a mild negative bias near 0.6020 during the early Asian session on Friday. The concerns about Donald Trump’s proposals to raise tariffs might cap the upside for the Kiwi in the near term. Investors await the release of advanced US Michigan Consumer Sentiment, which is due later on Friday. The Federal Reserve’s (Fed) Michelle Bowman is also set to speak. 

The US central bank trimmed interest rates by a quarter point, bringing the target rate range to 4.50%-4.75%. The Fed hints that another interest rate cut is likely coming, but the timing remains uncertain. The markets are now pricing in nearly 75% possibility the Fed will cut rates again in December, up from 69% on Wednesday, according to the CME Group's Fed Watch Tool.

On the Kiwi front, traders speculate Trump will reset trade relations with China, headlining a 60% import tariff on all Chinese goods, which undermines the China-proxy New Zealand Dollar (NZD) against the Greenback as China is a major trading partner to New Zealand. 

Additionally, the rising bets of an aggressive rate-cut cycle by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) might contribute to the NZD’s downside for the time being. The RBNZ is expected to cut the official cash rate (OCR) by 50 bps in the November meeting, with a supersize 75 bps cut an outside possibility.