Importance Score: 55 / 100 🔵
Donald Trump has reacted minutes after the value of US stocks dropped sharply as markets opened in Wall Street. The S&P 500 index, which tracks the country’s leading listed companies, was tumbling by about 200 points, or 4%, shortly after opening. The Dow Jones index was down about 3.7%, and Nasdaq fell around 4.4%.
Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: “The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO. Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid! Don’t be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!). Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!”
His comment comes as indexes around the world on Monday (April 7) continued to suffer sharp drops amid mounting fears for the global economy in the aftermath of Mr Trump’s tariffs on all goods imported to the US. In the UK, the FTSE 100 hit a new one-year low after the index saw its worst single-day of trading since March 2020 last Friday. European, US and Asian indexes have also taken a battering in the past few days as Mr Trump’s trade rules, as well as retaliatory tariffs imposed by China, sent shockwaves across financial markets.
Earlier today, Goldman Sachs said Mr Trump’s tariff announcement may have caused irreversible damage. The financial giant said a recession has become more likely even if the US retreats from its trade policies.
The firm also reduced its expectations for economic growth after “a sharp tightening in financial conditions, foreign consumer boycotts, and a continued spike in policy uncertainty that is likely to depress capital spending by more than we had previously assumed”.
But even meeting those expectations would now require “a large reduction” in the tariffs scheduled to take effect on April 9, according to Goldman Sachs.
JPMorgan Chase chief exec Jamie Dimon said the Trump administration’s trade policies will likely result in higher prices for both imported and domestic goods and services in the United State, weighing on an already slowing US economy.
In his annual letter to shareholders, Mr Dimon said the US economy already faced a number of challenges: sticky inflation, geopolitical tensions, Federal Reserve policy including still-high interest rates and high fiscal deficits. Mr Dimon also said many stocks in the market have been priced too high.
It was last Wednesday when Donald Trump unveiled sweeping new trade tariffs as part of his “Make America Wealthy Again” plan – and the UK was among the countries targeted. Speaking from the White House Rose Garden, the US President revealed a chart listing what he called “reciprocal tariffs”. The board compares how much different countries charge the US in tariffs and how much the US will now charge in return.
Trump said: “They charge us, we charge them. How can anybody be upset?”
According to the chart, the US will now impose a 10% tariff on imports from the UK and a 20% tariff on goods from the European Union. Trump singled out several countries, accusing them of “ripping off” the United States. He said the new plan is based on a system of “reciprocal tariffs”, matching the charges other countries place on US exports.
“It’s time the US took care of its own people,” he said, claiming trade deficits have weakened the American economy for too long.
The announcement comes as Trump pushes to revive his “America First” agenda and follows earlier tariffs introduced during his presidency on countries like China, Canada and Mexico.
He said the new levies would take effect almost immediately, warning that countries wanting to avoid the tariffs should “move production to the United States”.