After weeks of anticipation, global investors finally have sight of United States President Donald Trump
If the reaction of the stock market is any guide, the “liberation day” tariffs unveiled on Wednesday exceeded their worst fears.
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From the US to Asia to Europe, markets tumbled as investors absorbed the implications of the sharpest turn towards protectionism by the world’s largest economy since the 1930s.
Futures tied to the US’s benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 – which can be traded outside usual market hours – dropped more than 3 percent and 3.5 percent respectively, setting the stage for heavy losses when Wall Street reopens on Thursday.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped as much as 4.5 percent, while South Korea’s KOSPI and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng each fell more than 2 percent.
In Vietnam, the benchmark VN-Index suffered one of the worst days in its history, plunging more than 6 percent.
‘More aggressive than expected’
“The hike in tariffs was more aggressive than expected,” Lynn Song, chief economist for greater China at Dutch bank ING, told Al Jazeera.
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