Asian stock markets open down at least 8% amid Trump tariffs

Asian stock markets opened on Monday, April 7, with a drop of at least 8% amid the imposition of trade duties by US President Donald Trump.

According to The Guardian, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index immediately collapsed by 8.5%, for the first time since October 2023, but then it was able to regain two percentage points. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has already stated that his government will continue to ask Trump to reduce tariffs, but noted that the results "will not appear overnight."

Hong Kong and Chinese stocks also collapsed, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index plunging 8% in early trading. Shares of Chinese tech giants Alibaba and Tencent fell even more.

Taiwan's stock exchange fell by almost 10%, and trading on the Kospi index on the stock exchange in South Korea was suspended for 5 minutes due to a rapid decline.

Tariff captivity: how global stock indexes reacted to Trump's tariffs

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On April 2, Trump announced large-scale measures: base tariffs of 10% are being introduced for all products supplied to the United States. For the EU, this figure has been raised to 20%, and for China — to 34%. In his speech, the president called April 2 the day when Americans will become rich again.

The next day, Georgy Ostapkovich, director of the HSE Center for Economic Studies, said that the introduction of US duties on imported goods could trigger a chain reaction that could lead to a global financial crisis.