(BBC News) Global stocks sunk a day after President Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs that are forecast to raise prices and weigh on growth in the US and abroad.
Stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region fell for a second day, hot on the heels of the US S&P 500, which had its worst day since COVID caused an economic shock in 2020.
Nike, Apple and Target were among big consumer names worst hit, all of them sinking by more than 9%.
At the White House, Trump told reporters the US economy would “boom” thanks to the minimum 10% tariff he plans to slap on global imports in the hope of boosting federal revenues and bringing American manufacturing home.
The Republican president plans to hit products from dozens of other countries with far higher levies, including trade partners such as China and the European Union.
China, which is facing an aggregate 54% tariff, and the EU, which faces duties of 20%, both vowed retaliation on Thursday.
French President Emmanuel Macron called for European firms to suspend planned investment in the US.