Trump tariffs stay: FTSE dealt additional blow as US president points contemporary 50% levies warning towards China
US stocks have plunged on opening today as markets plummeted across the globe and the EU warned it is “finalising” plans to hit back in Donald Trump’s global trade war.
After the US president announced his sweeping tariffs last week, Wall Street is sinking again, with the S&P 500 down 3.8 per cent in early trading on Monday, coming off its worst week since Covid-19 began crashing the global economy in March 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,200 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 4 per cent lower.
EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said the bloc’s list of countermeasures is being finalised tonight, with a view to them being implemented on 15 April if struggling negotiations with the US fail.
The panicked mood was felt across Europe, with the UK’s FTSE 100 index plunging to a one-year low on Monday, while Germany’s Dax index recorded a drop of around 6.5 per cent.
Asian markets also tumbled, as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed more than 13 per cent in morning trade.
The US president said overnight on Monday that he did not want global markets to fall, but also that he was not concerned about the major sell-off, adding: “Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”
The impact of the tariffs has prompted major banks to hike the probability of a global recession, with JP Morgan raising its odds to 60 per cent today.
Branson calls for urgent action from US government or ‘America will face ruin’
Billionaire Richard Brandon has called on the US government to act in the next few hours otherwise “America will face ruin for years to come”.
In a post on X, he said: “The ongoing market response to last week’s US tariff announcement was both predictable and preventable. Even if you agree with the premise of these tariffs, every reasonable effort should be made to give US companies sufficient time to adapt.
“The opposite has happened, and now financial markets everywhere are in free fall, with catastrophic results for ordinary Americans and for the rest of the world. Retirement savings will be wiped out at enormous scale.
“As the dollar is weakening, US consumer prices will rise. And countless small and medium-size enterprises will go, and already are going, bankrupt as a result. This is not a winning long-term strategy. The US government can still turn things around, but it must act in the next few hours.
“This is the moment to own up to a colossal mistake and change course. Otherwise, America will face ruin for years to come.”
Stock market goes haywire with massive swings after ‘fake news’ reports about future of Trump’s tariff plan
Stocks turned positive around 10:30 a.m. in a sudden reversal of recent trends, with the Dow Jones shooting up before falling back down to a loss of 629 points. The S&P 500 also spiked up and down suddenly on Monday morning.
The swings came as CNBC and other outlets reported that National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Trump is considering a 90-day pause on tariffs for all countries other than China. However, there appears to be no evidence Hassett made that claim, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the reports “fake news.”
My colleague Katie Hawkinson reports from Washington DC:
Watch: Starmer vows UK won’t be cowed by Trump’s tariffs
White House describes reports Trump is considering 90-day pause in tariffs as ‘fake news’
The White House has described reports that Donald Trump is considering a 90-day pause in tariffs as “fake news”.
EU warns it is finalising its list of countermeasures tonight
The EU has warned it is finalising its list of countermeasures tonight.
EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said: “When it comes to the volume of counter measures, when it comes to steel, aluminium and derivatives, we are finalising the list tonight.”
Farage calls Trump’s tariffs ‘excessive’
Nigel Farage has called Donald Trump’s tariffs a “bit excessive”.
“I think it’s a bit excessive. Yes, I really do,” he told the PA news agency.
“Although he promised he’d do it in the run-up to the American election.
“So you can’t say he’s breaking his promises, but I think the impact of it – my own view, is the impact of it has been bigger than he could have predicted.”
He said he speaks to Mr Trump “far less” now than he did during his first term as US president.
EU’s countermeasures on US tariffs to start next week if negotiations fail, warns bloc’s trade commissioner
EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic has said that the EU’s own countermeasures on US tariffs would start next week if negotiations fail.
Sefcovic said on Monday that if negotiations failed to yield an agreement, the EU’s own countermeasures on US tariffs, which will start on 15 April, could not be delayed.
He said EU negotiators had not seen engagement that would lead to a mutually acceptable solution, after US President Donald Trump’s administration announced last week a sweeping round of tariffs for most imported goods.
He added on Monday that the European Union would not change its VAT system, which he described as an important source of income for member states.
US president Donald Trump’s administration has said that VAT – value-added taxes – are an additional trade barrier.
Stocks turn positive on Wall Street in sudden reversal
Stocks have turned positive on Wall Street in a sudden reversal and the Dow Jones index has jumped 300 points, erasing a loss of 1,700.
Netanyahu to seek tariff relief in talks with Trump
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will seek to limit the sting of tariffs imposed on his country when he meets US President Donald Trump on Monday, a visit likely to be closely watched by world leaders as global markets spiral downward.
Netanyahu will be the first foreign leader to meet face-to-face with Trump since he announced a sweeping tariff policy last Wednesday.
Under the new policy, Israeli goods face a 17 per cent US tariff. The United States is Israel’s closest ally and largest single trading partner.
During midday talks in the Oval Office, the two leaders are also expected to discuss the 18-month-old war in Gaza and the fate of hostages taken from Israel and still held in the Palestinian enclave.
Trump considers 90-day pause in tariffs for all countries except China, says his top economic adviser
Donald Trump is considering a 90-day pause in tariffs for all countries except China, the US president’s top economic adviser has said.
CNBC reported the comments were made by White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett today.
His remarks come as the US stock markets roared back after morning losses.
