Trump tariffs latest: Stocks plunge as US vows levies on ‘all countries’
31 March 2025 • 10:30am
Stocks have plunged after Donald Trump said he would issue tariffs on “all countries”.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan sank 4.1pc to 35,617.56, its lowest since September, while the Kospi in South Korea dropped 3pc to 2,481.12 as markets continued the downturn from the end of last week.
The FTSE 100 dropped as much as 1.2pc in London while the Cac 40 in Paris and Dax in Frankfurt were down as much as 1.3pc. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 1.2pc to 23,156.65.
Mr Trump has promised a “Liberation Day” on Wednesday, when he is set to unveil reciprocal levies to address trade practices that his government deems unfair.
Tariffs on car imports to the American economy are due to come into force on Thursday.
“You’d start with all countries, so let’s see what happens,” Mr Trump told reporters onboard Air Force One, dashing hopes he might scale back some of the threatened levies.
Sir Keir Starmer was ready to deploy “sharp teeth” against the US if Mr Trump hits the UK with tariffs this week, a source at Downing Street said.
Stocks were also hit after the US president threatened to impose tariffs on Russian oil.
He said he was “very angry” with Vladimir Putin for demanding that Volodymyr Zelensky be replaced as the price for peace negotiations.
“If a deal isn’t made, and if I think it was Russia’s fault, I’m going to put secondary sanctions on Russia,” Mr Trump told NBC.
He said the levies would be targeted on “all oil coming out of Russia.” He said he plans to speak to Putin this week.