Foreign stock markets tumbled on Thursday morning following President Donald Trump’s announcement of a raft of tariffs on America’s trade partners — including a minimum baseline tariff of 10% on all nations.
Asian markets led the slide. Japan’s Nikkei index dropped 4% after opening, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 2.4%, South Korea’s KOSPI fell 2.7% and Australia’s ASX 200 fell 2%.
U.S. markets closed up ahead of Trump’s Wednesday Rose Garden presentation, but stock futures dropped on Wednesday night. Dow Jones futures plummeted 2.7%, S&P 500 futures sank 3.9% and futures tied to the NASDAQ 100 dropped 4.7%.
American trading partners reacted to Trump’s tariffs announcement with condemnation and concern.
China — hit with 34% tariffs on China comes on top of 20% tariffs he previously announced — urged the U.S. to “immediately cancel its unilateral tariff measures and properly resolve differences with its trading partners through equal dialogue,” a Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said in a statement.
The tariffs will “endanger global economic development and the stability of the supply chain,” they added.
The European Union — now facing a 20% tariff — said it had a “strong plan to retaliate,” which European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is set to deliver on Thursday. “The universal tariffs announced by the U.S. are a major blow to businesses and consumers worldwide,” von der Leyen said in a post to X on Thursday.
“Europe is prepared to respond,” she added. “We’ll always protect our interests and values. We’re also ready to engage. And to go from confrontation to negotiation.”
In a Facebook post, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the tariffs targeted toward the European Union “wrong.”
She added, “We will do everything we can to work towards an agreement with the United States, with the aim of avoiding a trade war that would inevitably weaken the West in favor of other global players.”
In Japan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Tokyo “once again conveyed to the U.S. government that the recent measures are extremely regrettable and have strongly requested that they be reconsidered.” Japan is facing 24% tarrffs.
The measures, he added, “could have a significant impact on economic relations between Japan and the U.S., and ultimately on the global economy and the multilateral trading system as a whole.”
South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo instructed the government to “pour out all of its capabilities at its disposal to overcome this trade crisis,” in a statement quoted by the Yonhap news agency.
Han described Trump’s measures — which included 25% tariffs for all South Korean goods — as “very grave” and warned of “the approach of the reality of a global tariff war.”
ABC News’ Jack Moore, Leah Sarnoff and Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
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