Global markets sink as Trump鈥檚 tariffs roil trading system
Apr 7, 2025, 6:31 AM
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, on April 4, 2025. (Photo: Timothy A. Clary, Getty Images)
(Photo: Timothy A. Clary, Getty Images)
Global stock聽聽Monday, fueled by fears that聽聽would lead to a global economic slowdown. European and Asian shares saw dramatic losses, the leading U.S. index flirted with bear market territory in pre-market trading, and oil prices sagged.
The massive sell-off in riskier assets at the start of the trading week follows President Donald Trump鈥檚 announcement of sharply higher U.S. import taxes and聽聽that saw markets fall sharply Thursday and Friday.
Where the markets stand
础蝉颈补:听Tokyo鈥檚 Nikkei 225 index lost nearly 8% shortly after the market opened and futures trading for the benchmark was briefly suspended. It closed down 7.8% at 31,136.58. Chinese markets often don鈥檛 follow global trends, but they also tumbled. Hong Kong鈥檚 Hang Seng dropped 13.2% to 19,828.30, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 7.3% to 3,096.58.
贰耻谤辞辫别:听Germany鈥檚 DAX index briefly fell more than 10% at the open on the Frankfurt exchange, but recovered some ground to move down 5.8% in morning trading. In Paris, the CAC 40 shed 5.8%, while Britain鈥檚 FTSE 100 lost 4.9% in the European morning.
US:聽Futures signaled further weakness ahead. For the S&P 500, they lost 3.4%, while for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, they shed 3.1%. Futures for the Nasdaq lost 5.3%. If the pre-market futures losses materialize when the U.S. market opens, the S&P 500 will enter bear market territory 鈥� defined as a fall of more than 20% from the peak. The index was off 17.4% as of the end of last week.
Trump digs his heels in
In a Truth Social post Monday morning, the president showed no interest in changing course despite turmoil in global markets.
He said other countries had been 鈥渢aking advantage of the Good OL鈥� USA鈥� on international trade.
鈥淥ur past 鈥榣eaders鈥� are to blame for allowing this, and so much else, to happen to our Country,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淢AKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!鈥�
Trump criticized China for increasing its own tariffs and 鈥渘ot acknowledging my warning for abusing countries not to retaliate.鈥�
Netanyahu will be the first foreign leader to meet with Trump since the tariff announcement
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington Monday. Whether his visit succeeds in bringing down or eliminating Israel鈥檚 17% tariff remains to be seen, but how it plays out could set the stage for how other world leaders try to address the new tariffs.
Netanyahu鈥檚 office has put the focus of his hastily organized Washington visit on the tariffs, while stressing that the two leaders will discuss major geopolitical issues including the war in Gaza, tensions with Iran, Israel-Turkey ties and the International Criminal Court.
In a preemptive move last week, Israel announced that it was removing all tariffs on goods from the U.S., mostly on imported food and agricultural products.
Trump called tariffs 鈥榤edicine鈥� as he promised not to back down
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One late Sunday, President Donald Trump said he didn鈥檛 want global markets to fall, but also that he wasn鈥檛 concerned about the massive sell-off either, adding, 鈥渟ometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.鈥�
鈥淚 spoke to a lot of leaders, European, Asian, from all over the world,鈥� Trump said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e dying to make a deal. And I said, we鈥檙e not going to have deficits with your country. We鈥檙e not going to do that, because to me a deficit is a loss. We鈥檙e going to have surpluses or at worst, going to be breaking even.鈥�
Panic Monday: World stock markets plunge again
Global stock markets extended a severe plunge Monday, fueled by fears that聽聽would lead to a global economic slowdown. European and Asian shares saw dramatic losses, the leading U.S. index flirted with bear market territory in pre-market trading, and oil prices sagged.
The massive sell-off in riskier assets at the start of the trading week follows President Donald Trump鈥檚 announcement of sharply higher U.S. import taxes and聽聽that saw markets fall sharply Thursday and Friday.
The Associated Press’ Chris Megerian, Elaine Kurtenbach, and David McHugh contributed to this reporting
