Trump told reporters on Sunday: ‘I don’t want anything to go down. But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.’
Early trading markets in Europe tumbled, following stock slumps in Asia on April 7, after the U.S. president signaled he would not back down on his tough tariff policies.
The pan-European STOXX 600, which tracks 600 companies across 17 European countries, slumped 5.8 percent at 7.22 a.m. GMT, down for the fourth straight session. In London, the FTSE 100 index of blue-chip stocks shed 4.5 percent. Germany’s main stock market index DAX fell 6.1 percent and was among the worst-hit markets in the euro area, while the French stock market index CAC 40 shed 5.7 percent.
Over the weekend, President Donald Trump re-iterated his determination to stay the course with his tariff policy.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday in response to a question about the impact on the markets, Trump said: “I don’t want anything to go down. But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”
On April 2, Trump announced a minimum 10 percent tariff on all trading partners, as well as higher levies on about 60 nations identified by the administration as “worst offenders” in trade imbalances with the United States, with China near the top of the list.
Specific levies include a 34 percent tariff on Chinese imports—raising total tariffs to 54 percent—as well as 46 percent on Vietnam, 24 percent on Japan, and 20 percent on Europe. The global tariffs took effect at 12:01 a.m. April 6, with the higher, targeted tariffs set to begin April 9.
When markets opened on Monday in Asia they continued to slump.
In China, the Shanghai Composite Index slumped 7 percent on its worst day in five years. Hong Kong stocks experienced their biggest drop since 1997. The Hang Seng dropped 13.2 percent.
“I think the impact of this shock is going to be quite significant,” said UBS chief China economist Tao Wang on a call with investors on Monday. “It was challenging to achieve the government’s growth to start with. And now it’s even more challenging.”
In Taiwan, the Taiex fell 9.7 percent, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 8.8 percent shortly after the market opened, for the first time since October 2023.
“It’s extremely difficult to judge how far this stock market correction will run (but) as long as there exists a lack of clarity around tariffs and each country’s response, the market will remain heavy,” Maki Sawada, an equities strategist at Nomura Securities, said.
South Korea’s Kospi lost 4.1 percent.
50 Countries Want to Negotiate
Dozens of world leaders have moved to strike deals with Trump—reducing or outright removing their tariffs on the United States—to avert his reciprocal tariffs, while others have weighed countermeasures.
Trump’s economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, said on Sunday in an interview with ABC News that more than 50 countries have reached out to White House officials to renegotiate their trade imbalances.
“They’re doing that because they understand that they bear a lot of the tariff,” he told the outlet.
More Than 50 Countries Reached Out To Trump About Tariffs
By Owen Evans
