Analysts at JP Morgan say tariffs implemented by the Trump administration, if sustained, would “likely push the US and possibly global economy into recession this year”. Meanwhile. Asian stock markets have fallen for a second day. Listen to Trump 100 analysis as you scroll.
Friday 4 April 2025 07:15, UK
On Wednesday, Donald Trump announced a swathe of global tariffs.
Tariffs are taxes on goods imported into a country and it is the importers buying the goods who pay the tariffs – therefore, in the case of the US, American companies.
The US president announced tariffs for almost every country – including 10% rates on imports from the UK, sending financial markets reeling.
Trump confirmed the European Union will face a 20% reciprocal tariff on all other imports. China’s rate is set at 34%.
In the aftermath, stock markets around the world fell.
Here is a recap of what happened:
You can read more here…
Donald Trump insists the markets are going to “boom” – but the Wall Street banking giant JP Morgan disagrees.
America’s biggest bank says there’s now a 60% chance of a global recession thanks to the US president’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.
Analysts at the financial firm said the policies implemented by the Trump administration, if sustained, would “likely push the US and possibly global economy into recession this year”.
‘There will be blood’ after ‘tax hike’
In a note to clients yesterday, titled “There will be blood”, Bruce Kasman, chief economist at the bank, said the odds of a recession were up by 20% – from 40% to 60%.
He also called the tariffs the largest tax hike on US households and businesses since 1968.
“The effect of this tax hike is likely to be magnified – through retaliation, a slide in US business sentiment, and supply chain disruptions,” Kasman wrote.
The economist noted that the tariffs were a “substantial macroeconomic shock”.
Asian stock markets have fallen for a second day after Donald Trump’s raft of tariffs.
Tokyo’s Nikkei index was down 1.8% at 34,108.23, adding to a drop of 2.77% yesterday.
And Vietnam and Thailand equities continued their steep declines this morning as investors avoided risky assets in trade-reliant emerging economies.
Thailand’s benchmark stock index slid 2.3% to its lowest level in more than five years, bringing its year-to-date losses to just under 19%.
Stocks in Vietnam slumped as much as 5.8% to their lowest level in 15 months, extending their slide after yesterday’s near 7% drop.
Other regional stock markets also fell, with indices in Malaysia and the Philippines down about 1% each.
Singapore stocks slumped 3% in their fifth session of losses and are on course for their biggest one-day percentage drop in nearly eight months.
For context: Trump hit export-driven Southeast Asian nations with some of the heftiest tariffs, with a 46% levy on Vietnamese exports and 37% on Thailand.
Malaysia faces tariffs of 24% and the Philippines 18%.
Welcome back to our live coverage as we take in all the reaction and fallout to Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement.
Yesterday, the US markets suffered their biggest one-day percentage losses since 2020.
Despite that, Trump said the markets are “going to boom”, adding he thinks the impacts of his tariffs are “going to be unbelievable”.
Scroll back in the blog to catch up with all of yesterday’s headlines, and stay here with us as we keep track of all the latest developments this morning.
We’ll be back in the morning with more of the reaction and fallout to Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement.
Before then, here’s a rundown of what’s been happening today:
If you’d like to read more in depth analysis on Trump’s tariffs from our team of experts, you can here:
Africa is home to some of the countries being hit hardest by Donald Trump’s tariffs, with South Africa (30%), Mauritius (40%) and Madagascar (47%) all targeted by big levies.
But it’s the landlocked, southern African kingdom of Lesotho which has it worse than the rest. Americans bringing in good from the tiny nation will have to pay an additional 50% import tax.
Lesotho exports some $237m worth of goods to the US and its textile industry in particular is heavily reliant on exports to America.
That’s largely down to a tax-free initiative set up during the Bill Clinton presidency that helps countries trade their way out of poverty.
Mokhethi Shelile, Lesotho’s trade minister, spoke to Yalda Hakim about Trump’s tariffs, asking him what Lesotho had done to deserve them.
“I guess, absolutely nothing,” he says.
Shelile says The African Opportunity Act, which came into existence in 2000, caused Lesotho’s textile industry to grow quickly, but the country is now at the point “where we are going to have to re-evaluate”.
“The first thing we have to do, that we’re going to do quickly, is visit Washington, meet with the relevant authorities and show them our case,” he says.
“We have to make a case for Lesotho to be given its rightful tariff. We understand there’s a new government in the US with a different policy.
“We don’t have a problem with this. We have a problem with being evaluated using the wrong tariffs.”
Will Trump listen to Lesotho?
Given Trump made headlines last month for saying “nobody has ever heard of” Lesotho, it might be hard to get him to hear the tiny nation out.
“I believe there will be somebody to listen to us because I’ve been made to believe that President Trump is a negotiator,” Shelile says.
“He’s open to sitting down.”
Donald Trump has now arrived in Florida.
The US president is appearing at his Trump National Doral Golf Club for a special dinner involving stars of the LIV golf series.
Trump disembarked Marine One and was quickly ushered into a buggy, waving as he was driven towards the club house.
As we’ve been reporting, Donald Trump has been travelling between Washington and Florida this evening.
The US president spoke to reporters on board Air Force One, talking about tariffs and a number of other issues.
At one point, Trump presented his “gold card” immigration visa, which he has previously said he plans to sell for $5m (£3.9m).
This, he says, will hand wealthy buyers permanent residency in the US and a path to citizenship.
Away from tariffs for a moment (but staying firmly within the drama of the Trump administration), we have an update on the fiasco surrounding the cabinet’s use of the Signal messaging app.
Last month, The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffery Goldberg said he was added to a group chat on the platform by national security adviser Mike Waltz called “Houthi PC small group”, where plans to launch a strike on the Yemen militants were discussed.
Now, the Pentagon’s acting inspector general said he will review US defence secretary Pete Hegseth’s use of the app.
The review will also look at other defence officials’ use of the publicly available encrypted app – which is not able to handle classified material and is not part of the US government’s secure network.
We can now bring you some more comments from Donald Trump, who has been speaking to reporters while en route to Florida.
He says the UK is happy with its tariff treatment after it received the lowest levies possible of 10% during yesterday’s announcement.
Trump also said he would be open to tariff negotiations if other countries “offer something phenomenal”.
One of those negotiations could involve China, who Trump hit with 34% tariffs yesterday. The US president said he would consider a deal where Beijing approves the sale of TikTok in exchange for tariff relief.
TikTok faces a 5 April deadline to reach a deal to find a non-Chinese buyer under threat of being banned from the US.
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