Donald Trump’s threats of additional trade tariffs against China, on top of the 10% hike imposed earlier this month, have contributed to a widespread stock market sell-off.
Sentiment was already sour on the tariff front, given the spectre of 25% import duties being slapped on the EU, before the US president confirmed his intention to target Canada, Mexico and China next week.
Mr Trump said his proposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods – delayed by a month – would take effect on 4 March as planned, alongside an extra 10% duty on Chinese imports.
Money latest: Pocket money for kids varies by area
Beijing’s reaction was to threaten further retaliation, building on the market fears the Trump administration was risking a deepening global trade war.
Asia felt the most pain in equities after a 1.6% decline was registered on the broad S&P 500 amid a tech sell-off linked to poorly received results from Nvidia.
Tech shares were among those hammered as the focus switched to be increasingly dominated by trade on Friday.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell more than 3%, while Japan’s Nikkei slumped to a five-month low as demand soared for the safe haven yen.
In Europe, the DAX in Germany and French CAC were on course to build on declines seen on Thursday, with the manufacturing-heavy DAX losing just shy of 1% at the open.
The UK may have been spared Trump tariff threats – and even promised renewed trade talks during Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s meeting at the White House on Thursday – but the FTSE 100 was still feeling some pain.
A decline of 0.4% was registered in early trading.
Read more:
Trump opens door to US-UK trade deal
The effects of Trump trade tariffs explained
The main fear among investors is damage to the global economy from a widening and protracted trade fight as Mr Trump battles to secure American jobs through the imposition of tariffs.
But one consequence of higher import costs due to the duties is the fact they risk stoking US…
