Trump’s global tariffs trigger outrage, bear heavily on Wall Street
The US President Donald Trump’s baseline tariff of 10% on products from all countries worldwide took effect on Saturday, sparking protests in the US and several other countries and causing worst crisis for Wall Street since COVID pandemic.
The blanket tariff was announced by the US president on Wednesday evening, when his speech on so-called “Liberation Day” sent shockwaves across the global stock market as he unleashed sweeping taxes on imports.
Much higher tariffs against what Trump branded as the “worst offenders”, such as a 20% rate for the EU and a 34% one for China, are set for 9 April.
A 25% tariff imposed on all foreign cars imported into the US came into effect on Thursday.
American customs officials began collecting the new 10% tariff on Saturday morning.
World’s response
Various countries are still deciding how to respond (or not), and companies have begun adjusting to the new reality — largely by raising prices. Some countries responded with new tariffs of their own.
Canada announced new duties on certain vehicles imported from the US, and China announced that it will impose countermeasures against the US starting April 10.
China’s response to US tariffs caused an immediate acceleration of losses in markets worldwide. The Commerce Ministry in Beijing said it would respond to the 34% tariffs imposed by the US on imports from China with its own 34% tariff on imports of all US products beginning April 10. The United States and China are the world’s two largest economies.
Worst daily drop
The UK’s leading stock market, the FTSE 100, suffered its worst daily drop in more than five years, closing on Friday 4.95% down, a level not seen since March 2020.
All three of the US’s major indexes, including The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite, were down by more than 5% at market close on Friday, making for the worst day in American markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ever since the US president announced the tariffs, analysts estimate that around $4.9trn has been wiped off the value of the global stock market.
As stock markets reeled, Trump was largely out of public view at his golf course where he sent multiple defiant social media messages guaranteeing victory for the US economy.
One of his messages on Truth Social read, “Big business is not worried about the Tariffs, because they know they are here to stay, but they are focused on the BIG, BEAUTIFUL DEAL, which will SUPERCHARGE our Economy. Very important. Going on right now!!!”
The British maker of Jaguar and Land Rover cars is pausing shipments to the US as it works to mitigate the impact of a 25% tax on vehicle imports.
Also on Saturday, thousands of people gathered on Washington’s National Mall and other cities across America in opposition to the policies of Trump, in the largest protests since he returned to the White House.
At a time of spreading global resentment against the Republican president, rallies took place earlier in international capitals including Paris, Rome, London, Berlin and Lisbon.