Stock markets tumble after China retaliates against Trump’s tariff
Stock markets fell further Friday after China retaliated against President Donald Trump’s tariffs by imposing a 34% tariff on all U.S. goods suffering. The S&P 500 fell 6% — it’s biggest one-day drop since the COVID-19 pandemic hit five years ago.See the story in the video aboveChina matched President Trump’s latest tariffs against them, but President Trump said on social media, “China played it wrong, they panicked.””In the eyes of investors, it makes it look like this trade war may be a little more extended, a little more tough,” said Steve Cochrane, the chief APAC economist at Moody’s Analytics.Economists say this could mean higher prices and the U.S. exporting fewer goods, dealing a blow to the U.S. agricultural sector in particular. However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the president’s tariffs, saying the markets and businesses will adjust.”Once they know what the rules are, they will adjust to those rules. So, I don’t think it’s fair to say economies are crashing. Markets are crashing because markets are based on the stock value of countries who today are embedded in modes of production that are bad for the United States,” Rubio said.President Trump also pointed out on social media that he had a “very productive call” with Vietnam, who told him they want to cut their tariffs to zero if they can make a deal.This comes as questions are raised on how the “reciprocal” tariffs were calculated. The president said the U.S. would charge countries half of what they’re charging the U.S., but our partners at FactCheck.org say that’s misleading. For example, the White House “reciprocal” tariff chart says the European Union charges the U.S. 39%, but according to the World Trade Organization, the rate is 2.7%.”They did a very, very simple arithmetic calculation of just taking the US trade deficit, country by country, and dividing it, normalizing it by the total value of US imports. And that has, that has nothing to do with tariffs,” Cochrane said.The president also had a message to investors today, saying, “My policies will never change. This is a great time to get rich.” However, economists say that adds to the uncertainty, with investors not sure if he’s going to cut deals or stick with the tariffs.China’s new tariffs go into effect next week.
Stock markets fell further Friday after China retaliated against President Donald Trump’s tariffs by imposing a 34% tariff on all U.S. goods suffering. The S&P 500 fell 6% — it’s biggest one-day drop since the COVID-19 pandemic hit five years ago.
See the story in the video above
China matched President Trump’s latest tariffs against them, but President Trump said on social media, “China played it wrong, they panicked.”
“In the eyes of investors, it makes it look like this trade war may be a little more extended, a little more tough,” said Steve Cochrane, the chief APAC economist at Moody’s Analytics.
Economists say this could mean higher prices and the U.S. exporting fewer goods, dealing a blow to the U.S. agricultural sector in particular. However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the president’s tariffs, saying the markets and businesses will adjust.
“Once they know what the rules are, they will adjust to those rules. So, I don’t think it’s fair to say economies are crashing. Markets are crashing because markets are based on the stock value of countries who today are embedded in modes of production that are bad for the United States,” Rubio said.
President Trump also pointed out on social media that he had a “very productive call” with Vietnam, who told him they want to cut their tariffs to zero if they can make a deal.
This comes as questions are raised on how the “reciprocal” tariffs were calculated. The president said the U.S. would charge countries half of what they’re charging the U.S., but our partners at FactCheck.org say that’s misleading.
For example, the White House “reciprocal” tariff chart says the European Union charges the U.S. 39%, but according to the World Trade Organization, the rate is 2.7%.
“They did a very, very simple arithmetic calculation of just taking the US trade deficit, country by country, and dividing it, normalizing it by the total value of US imports. And that has, that has nothing to do with tariffs,” Cochrane said.
The president also had a message to investors today, saying, “My policies will never change. This is a great time to get rich.” However, economists say that adds to the uncertainty, with investors not sure if he’s going to cut deals or stick with the tariffs.
China’s new tariffs go into effect next week.
