Fear Trump’s tariffs could spark recession wipes $2 trillion off US stocks

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03/04/2025 - 04:11

• Trump launches tariffs, saying global trade has 'looted, pillaged, raped and plundered' US economy
• Trump unveils 34% tariff on Chinese imports, 20% on EU
• Fresh Trump tariffs to begin on April 5 and April 9
• China says it 'firmly opposes' new US tariffs, vows 'countermeasures'
• France and EU to reciprocate Trump tariffs this month
• France's Macron says Trump tariff decision 'brutal and unfounded'

04/04/2025 - 03:51

US Senate Republican pushes to require congressional approval for new tariffs

Republican US Senator Chuck Grassley introduced a bill on Thursday that would require congressional approval for new tariffs, the day after President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping new taxes on a vast array of imported goods.

Grassley, whose home state of Iowa relies heavily on the global agricultural trade, joined Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington for the Trade Review Act of 2025 which would require Congress to sign off on new tariffs within 60 days of their imposition or automatically block their enforcement.

04/04/2025 - 03:27

Vietnam foreign ministry says regrets US tariff decision

Vietnam's foreign ministry on Friday said it regrets the US decision to impose reciprocal tariffs on its exports.

"We believe that the decision is not in line with the reality of mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation between the two countries," Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Pham Thu Hang told Reuters.

Hang said Vietnam will continue to seek solutions for the stable and sustainable development of bilateral economic relations with the United States.

04/04/2025 - 01:30

Trump says 'it's going very well' after tariffs cause largest market drop since pandemic

US President Donald Trump offered a rosy assessment after the stock market dropped sharply Thursday over his tariffs, saying, “I think it's going very well."

“The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom,” he said when asked about the market as he left the White House to fly to one of his Florida golf clubs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 1,600 points on Thursday as US stocks led a worldwide selloff after the Republican president's announcement of tariffs against much of the world ignited a shock like none seen since the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The announcement jolted markets worldwide, but Trump said that was to be expected. He compared the United States to a sick patient in need of surgery when asked by a reporter for his reaction to the worst stock market drop in years.

“I think it's going very well. We have an operation, like when a patient gets operated on and it's a big thing. I said this would exactly be the way it is,” he said, an apparent reference to the selloff.

04/04/2025 - 00:54

Trump tariffs represent a 'significant risk to the global outlook,' says IMF chief

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva on Thursday said new US tariffs "clearly represent a significant risk to the global outlook" and urged Washington to work with its trade partners.

The tariffs, announced by US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, "clearly represent a significant risk to the global outlook at a time of sluggish growth", the head of the International Monetary Fund said in a statement.

"It is important to avoid steps that could further harm the world economy," Georgieva added.

04/04/2025 - 00:17

Republican US Senator introduces bill to pass new tariffs through Congress

Republican US Senator Chuck Grassley introduced a bill on Thursday that would require congressional approval for new tariffs, the day after US President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping new taxes on a vast array of imported goods.

Grassley, whose home state of Iowa relies heavily on global agricultural trade, joined Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington for the Trade Review Act of 2025 which would require Congress to sign off on new tariffs within 60 days of their imposition or automatically block their enforcement. 

The move, made the day after four other Senate Republicans voted for a measure that would lift Trump's tariffs on Canadian goods, was the latest sign of dissent among Republicans as Trump's aggressive moves fanned recessionary fears and sparked Wall Street's worst day since 2022.

Neither Grassley's bill nor the measure that passed the Senate on Wednesday were seen as likely to become law while Trump's Republicans hold majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives, where many of their members are voicing support for Trump's moves.

04/04/2025 - 00:04

Dow drops 1,600 after Trump’s sweeping tariffs

The S&P 500 sank 4.8 percent, more than in major markets across Asia and Europe, for its worst day since the pandemic crashed the economy in 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,679 points, or 4 percent, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 6 percent.

Little was spared in financial markets as fear flared about the potentially toxic mix of weakening economic growth and higher inflation that tariffs can create. 

Everything from crude oil to Big Tech stocks to the value of the US dollar against other currencies fell. Even gold, which hit records recently as investors sought something safer to own, pulled lower. Some of the worst hits walloped smaller US companies, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks dropped 6.6 percent to pull more than 20 percent below its record.

Investors worldwide knew Trump was going to announce a sweeping set of tariffs late Wednesday, and fears surrounding it had already pulled Wall Street’s main measure of health, the S&P 500 index, 10 percent below its all-time high. But Trump still managed to surprise them with “the worst case scenario for tariffs”, according to Mary Ann Bartels, chief investment officer at Sanctuary Wealth.

03/04/2025 - 22:48

China could get tariff relief if it approves TikTok deal, Trump says

US President Donald Trump said he would consider a deal for TikTok where China approves the sale of the short video app in exchange for relief from US tariffs on Chinese imports.

Trump said that a deal is close on TikTok, with multiple investors involved.

TikTok faces an April 5 deadline to reach a deal to find a non-Chinese buyer under threat of being banned from the United States.

03/04/2025 - 22:46

Trump says market response to tariffs was expected

US President Donald Trump said the market slide due to his decision to impose tariffs was expected and the step was needed to heal the economy, which he called a sick patient.

Trump also said he was open to tariff negotiations if other countries offered something "phenomenal".

03/04/2025 - 22:21

Fear that Trump tariffs will spark recession wipes out $2 trillion in value from US stock values

US companies had trillions of dollars in value wiped out Thursday after President Donald Trump slapped sweeping tariffs on foreign imports.

Virtually every sector suffered big losses as US financial markets at one point were headed toward their biggest one-day drop since Covid-19 flattened the global economy five years ago. 

Banks, retailers, clothing, airlines and technology companies were among the hardest hit, with consumers expected to cut spending if tariffs lead to higher prices for goods and services.

“This is a game changer, not only for the US economy but for the global economy," Olu Sonola, Fitch Ratings’ head of US Economic Research, said in a report. "Many countries will likely end up in a recession.” 

With less than an hour before markets closed, $2.01 trillion in value had vanished according to Howard Silverblatt, a senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

03/04/2025 - 21:54

US tariffs could push up inflation, slow growth, Fed official says

The trade uncertainty fuelled by recent tariffs will likely raise the risks of higher inflation and slower growth, and pose challenges for Federal Reserve policy, a senior banking official said.

Speaking in Pennsylvania on Thursday, Federal Reserve board of governors member Lisa Cook said her baseline forecast still expects growth to slow "moderately" this year, with an uptick in inflation and a stalled inflation fight, "in part because of tariffs and other policy changes".

While it is possible that the disruption from tariffs could be minimal, Cook said in prepared remarks that she placed "more weight on scenarios where risks are skewed to the upside for inflation and to the downside for growth".

"Such scenarios, with higher initial inflation and slower growth, could pose challenges for monetary policy," she added, alluding to the challenges that the Fed would face, seeking to lower inflation without then sparking a spike in the unemployment rate. 

03/04/2025 - 21:52

Dow drops 1,400 after Trump's tariffs cause Covid-like shock

A level of shock unseen in years tore through financial markets worldwide on worries about the damage US President Donald Trump's newest set of tariffs could do to economies across continents, including his own.

The S&P 500 was down 4.2 percent in late trading, more than in major markets across Asia and Europe. It's heading toward its worst day in more than two years, and it's close to its worst since Covid-19 shattered the economy in 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,426 points, or 3.4 percent, with an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite was 5.2 percent lower.

Little was spared in financial markets as fear flared about the potentially toxic mix of weakening economic growth and higher inflation that tariffs can create. 

Everything from crude oil to Big Tech stocks to the value of the US dollar against other currencies fell. Even gold, which has hit records recently as investors sought something safer to own, pulled lower. Some of the worst hits walloped smaller US companies, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks dropped 5.9 percent to pull more than 20 percent below its record.

03/04/2025 - 20:13

Italy's Meloni says US tariffs a mistake, but no catastrophe

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Thursday that trade tariffs announced by the United States were a mistake but their impact should not be overestimated and the reaction needed to be carefully considered.

"We must not fuel alarmism, it's not a catastrophe," Meloni said in an interview on Italian state television station RAI.

"I'm not convinced that the best way to respond to tariffs is with other tariffs," she added.

03/04/2025 - 19:24

US tariffs could shrink global merchandise trade volumes 1% in 2025, WTO warns

US President Donald Trump's worldwide tariff salvo could lead to an overall contraction of around 1 percent in global merchandise trade volumes this year, the World Trade Organization (WTO)'s Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warned Thursday.

Okonjo-Iweala warned the measures would "have substantial implications for global trade and economic growth prospects". 

"While the situation is rapidly evolving, our initial estimates suggest that these measures, coupled with those introduced since the beginning of the year, could lead to an overall contraction of around 1 percent in global merchandise trade volumes this year," the WTO chief said in a statement.

Okonjo-Iweala urged WTO members to manage the tensions resulting the US measures responsibly.

"I'm deeply concerned about this decline and the potential for escalation into a tariff war with a cycle of retaliatory measures that lead to further declines in trade."

03/04/2025 - 18:34

Lesotho to send delegation to US 'urgently' after tariffs hike

Lesotho said Thursday it will send a government delegation to the United States to plead its case after Washington imposed 50-percent tariffs on its imports, the highest for a single nation.

"We need to urgently travel to the US to engage with its executives and plead our case," Trade Minister Mokhethi Shelile told reporters. "My biggest concern was the immediate closure of factories and job losses," he said.

Lesotho Private Sector Foundation CEO Thabo Qhesi said earlier they meant that "the textile and apparel industry is going to die".

The clothing industry is the largest employer in the tiny kingdom of around 2.3 million people, providing more than 35,000 workers, according to official data. 

03/04/2025 - 18:02

French businesses call for government support measures following Trump's tariff announcement

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for suspending investment in the United States until President Donald Trump's "brutal and unfounded" new tariffs against Europe and the rest of the world were clarified. FRANCE 24 correspondent Emerald Maxwell has the latest.

03/04/2025 - 17:53
03/04/2025 - 17:50

Canada to impose 25% tariffs on US autos that are non-compliant with USMCA, Carney says

Canada will impose a 25 percent tariff on all vehicles imported from the United States that are not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal, Prime Minister Mark Carney told a press conference on Thursday.

Carney also said the new tariffs would not apply to auto parts and would not affect vehicle content from Mexico.

03/04/2025 - 17:43

Mexico president welcomes being left off Trump's new tariffs list

President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, the United States' top trading partner, on Thursday welcomed her country's exclusion from the list of nations targeted in Donald Trump's latest round of import tariffs.

Sheinbaum told reporters Mexico was spared thanks to her government's "good relationship" with the US administration.

Mexico's economy is considered one of the most vulnerable to Trump's tariffs due to its close trade relations with the United States and their joint membership of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on free trade.

More than 80 percent of Mexican exports go to the United States, including some three million vehicles a year.

The Latin American nation is home to many foreign-owned vehicle assembly plants operated by companies including Ford, General Motors, BMW, Volkswagen and Toyota.

03/04/2025 - 17:33

Brazil to take 'all appropriate measures' against US tariffs, Lula says

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Thursday his country would take "all appropriate measures to defend" itself against import tariffs imposed by his United States counterpart Donald Trump.

"Faced with the decision of the United States to impose an additional tax on Brazilian products, we will take all appropriate measures to defend our companies and our workers," the leftist leader said at an event in the capital, Brasilia.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)