This March 12, Donald Trump‘s long-feared global tariffs on steel and aluminum came into effect. This ruling negatively impacts practically every developed country in the world, with the general response being unbridled anger towards the United States and widespread boycotts of U.S.-made products.
European Commission president Ursula von der Layen described Trump’s moves as “bad for business and worse for consumers,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called them an act of “economic self-harm,” while British Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds diplomatically gritted his teeth and said the move was “… disappointing.”
Global financial markets are founded on notions of predictable behavior from governments and large corporations. So, the Trump istration doing the economic equivalent of dousing itself with gasoline, lighting itself on fire, and running around screaming has, naturally, spooked financiers.
Bloomberg describes investors running in panic from “virtually every type of risk” and that “economic fear raced across Wall Street” as the implications of the Trump istration’s plans became starkly clear. Tech stocks promptly slid, crypto markets contracted, and corporate bond sales rapidly canceled as a deep-seated fear set in. Alon Roisin, Oppenheimer & Co.’s head of institutional equity derivatives, didn’t mince his words, describing this as an ” an absolute death spiral.”
Financial reporters at the Motley Fool also confirmed the pain is real for investors under Trump’s tariffs. They report that FTSE 100 companies have lost approximately $85 billion, with the U.S. market as a whole said to have lost an incredible $4 trillion since the reality of the Trump tariffs became apparent in February. Trump is now not only refusing to budge on the tariffs but threatening to make them worse, leading financial analyst Mark Hartley to miserably conclude “there’s no end in sight for the bleeding.”
You may, of course, be wondering how the misery of some financial trader is relevant to you. In the short term, not a great deal, as the financial markets are not the so-called “real economy” However, it’s generally considered that widespread jitters in trading presage a wider economic downturn, with the collapse in share prices in 2008 presaging a steep recession that saw people lose their jobs, evicted from their homes, and burdened with unmanageable debt.
With Trump’s tariffs designed to wasn’t able to deny that a recession is on the way, though he palmed this off as a necessary misery Americans must suffer to reach the sunny uplands of a nation “made great again.”
Whether you voted Trump or not, and whether you wholeheartedly believe in his financial acumen or not, the consensus is that day-to-day life in the U.S. is about to get a heck of a lot more expensive very soon. For the likes of Donald Trump and Elon Musk these choppy waters will barely rock their boat, but for you and I, it could be the difference between making rent, missing a mortgage payment, or deciding it’s more important for the kids to be fed than yourself. After all, what’s one or two skipped meals a week? But, whenever you hear your stomach growl, just Trump’s grinning face.
Published: Mar 12, 2025 08:13 am