LONDON: A New Year sell-off of the US dollar deepened on Tuesday as investors turned more gloomy on the immediate outlook, spurred by President-elect Donald Trump’s comments that the strength of the US currency against China’s yuan “is killing us”. In the first full day of US trading since Trump’s comments in an article in the Wall Street Journal, the arrival of traders at their desks in New York saw the currency sink past $1.07 per euro for the first time since Dec. 8. It also fell to a 7-week low of 112.74 yen, with traders also citing Trump’s tweets criticising a Republican plan on border tax adjustments which had been expected to support the dollar. “Underlying it all is an apparent change of heart from Trump on the border tax and what it might or might not do for the dollar,” said National Australia Bank’s head of forex strategy Nick Parsons. “The dollar is down against every one of the majors and the emerging market currencies so it’s a clean sweep…Trump’s tweets spoke in negative terms about the tax so the dollar has come off as a result.” The dollar surged at the end of last year on the back of expectations of stimulus from the new administration that would boost US economic growth and feed demand for the dollar. But having labelled China a currency manipulator, Trump has continued to strike a firm tone towards Beijing and his protectionist rhetoric is beginning to play a larger role in investors’ thinking. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal he said: “I would talk to them (China) first,” but “our companies can’t compete with them now because our currency is strong and it’s killing us.”