World reacts with dismay as Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' threatens to shackle economies
Washington D.C.: Donald Trump's sweeping 'reciprocal' tariffs on friend and foe alike is threatening to unleash a global trade war. The new tariffs come on top of a lineup of levies that Trump has already implemented: an additional 20% tariff on all Chinese imports and a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports. There is also a 10% tariff on energy imports from Canada.
Trump said he will impose a 10% universal tariff on all imported foreign goods in addition to “reciprocal tariffs” on a few dozen countries, charging additional duties onto countries that Trump claims have “cheated” America. The 10% universal tariff will go into effect on April 5th while the reciprocal tariffs will begin on April 9th.
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Here's how 'Liberation Day' was met across the world.
Candian prime minister Mark Carney said 25% tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, as well as on automobiles, will come into effect within hours. Canada would “fight these measures with countermeasures” he said, ahead of a meeting with cabinet ministers. “In a crisis, it’s important to come together. It’s essential to act with purpose and with force and that’s what we’ll do.”
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said: "President Trump referred to reciprocal tariffs. A reciprocal tariff would be zero, not 10%. The administration’s tariffs have no basis in logic and they go against the basis of our two nations’ partnership. This is not the act of a friend."
Meanwhile Albanese also expressed confusion over the 29% tariff on Norfolk Island, which is an Australian territory. "I’m not quite sure that Norfolk Island, with respect to it, is a trade competitor with the giant economy of the United States but that just shows and exemplifies the fact that nowhere on earth is exempt from this," he said.
South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo ordered emergency support measures for businesses affected by the imposition of US tariffs of 25%.
Han said: "As the global trade war has become a reality, the government must pour all its capabilities to overcome the trade crisis."
The German Automotive Industry Association (VDA), has called on the EU “to act together and with the necessary force, while continuing to signal its willingness to negotiate".
"The United States’ departure from the rules-based global trade order – and thus a departure from the foundation for global value creation and corresponding growth and prosperity in many regions of the world. This is not America first; this is America alone," it said in a statement.
Meanwhile Tokyo’s Nikkei index opened 3.4% down after the Trump tariffs, while Australian shares are down 2%. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 3.42%, or 1,222.77 points, at 34,503.10 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 3.32%, or 87.93 points, at 2,562.36.
As the Chinese stock markets opened the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong dropped 2.43%, or 564.32 points, to 22,638.21, while in mainland China the Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.91%, or 30.52 points, to 3,319.61.
Gold crossed the previous record of $3,149.14 an ounce on Wednesday and then continued to climb above $1,350 an ounce.