Following U.S. president Donald Trump’s announcement of a new tariff regime has prompted low openings of the European stock markets today (Friday, April 4th). The massive tariffs on U.S. trading partners also stunned Asian markets, which closed well down compared to their recent performance.
The main European stock indices continued to decline in early trading:
- Paris lost 0.86%
- Frankfurt lost 0.70%
- Zurich lost 0.86%
- Milan lost 1.55%.
In Asia, the Tokyo Stock Exchange extended its losses at the close: the leading Nikkei index lost 2.75%, and the broader Topix index lost 3.37%. Similarly, the Sydney Stock Exchange fell 2.44% and the Seoul Stock Exchange fell 0.86%. The 24% US tariffs imposed on Japan constitute a “national crisis” for the archipelago, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told parliament (last year, the United States accounted for 20% of Japanese exports).
Since Thursday April 3rd, the main U.S. trading partners have been developing a response, but the American president dismissed their concerns:
The economy had many problems … It was a sick patient, it will end up in great shape.
In contrast, International Monetary Fund director Kristalina Georgieva warned Trump’s announcements “clearly constitute a significant risk to the global outlook, in a period of sluggish growth.”
europeanconservative.com / AFP
