‘He was bad on trade, very bad on trade,’ said Donald Trump ‘with due respect’ to Ronald Reagan in a broadcast from the White House. As the President went on, the Fox News coverage included a ‘Dow Watch’ ticker, which showed the markets in freefall.
Trump was speaking to confirm that 25 per cent tariffs would be imposed at midnight on Tuesday on Canada and Mexico, with an additional 10 per cent tariff for China (which has already had 10 per cent tariffs imposed). This means new barriers for America’s three largest trading partners. ‘The tariffs, you know, they’re all set. They go into effect tomorrow,’ Trump said.
In response to the tariffs announcement – which markets do not seem to have fully priced in – the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.6 per cent, while the S&P 500 Index finished the day 1.8 per cent down, just worse than the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which was 1.4
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