Trump Declares Trade War on the World. US Panic – Stock Market Crash of Trillions of Dollars

Donald Trump, with great fanfare and pomp, announced the introduction of new "reciprocal" tariffs on goods imported into the United States from virtually every country in the world. Trump called his tariff order a "declaration of economic independence."

"This is Emancipation Day for all Americans! The moment we've been waiting for has arrived - April 2, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America took its destiny back into its own hands, and the day we began to make America rich again!" Trump said.

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"Reciprocity means they do it to us, and we do it to them, very simple. It couldn't be simpler," he added.

He said that "for years, other countries have plundered the American economy, grown rich and powerful, largely at the expense of the United States ," but now "it's our turn to prosper while using trillions and trillions of dollars to cut our taxes and pay down our national debt."

Trump assured that everything promised will happen “very quickly.”

According to him, the size of the tariffs that the White House is imposing on imports will be half the size of the duties imposed on foreign goods by other countries.

_{The minimum basic tariff will be 10% for all countries, but for the EU - 20%, and for China - 34%, according to the tables presented by Trump. Russia and Belarus are not on the list, but Ukrainian goods will be subject to a duty of 10%. Trump's decree on duties will come into effect on April 9.}

In addition, the United States announced a 25% tariff on imports of passenger cars, light trucks and parts for them from all countries of the world. The tariffs will begin to be levied on cars imported from April 3.

_{Due to the trade tariffs imposed by Trump, Apple equipment may become much more expensive. The new tariffs affected key countries where Apple equipment is assembled: Vietnam (46%), China (34%), and India (26%). Due to the increase in tariffs, the company will face increased production costs, which may be passed on to end consumers. Taiwan, from where Apple gets Apple Silicon processors for all its devices, now also has a high tariff (32%).}

AirPods from Vietnam or iPads from India may go up in price by $20-40 depending on the model. And the iPhone, which costs $1000, will go up in price by $50-70, experts say.

Trump is convinced that mutual tariffs will lead to a golden age in his country.

"Jobs and factories will roar back to our country," the American leader said at the signing ceremony.

To illustrate, Trump showed a table with new tariffs on imports from different countries:

– China – 34%

– European Union – 20%

– Vietnam – 46%

- Taiwan - 32%

-Japan - 24%

– South Korea – 25%

-Thailand - 36%

- Switzerland - 31%

-Indonesia - 32%

– Malaysia – 24%

-Cambodia - 49%

– UK – 10%

– South Africa – 30%

To prevent Australia from circumventing US tariffs by registering its companies on external territories, Trump has imposed 10 percent tariffs even on its uninhabited Heard and McDonald Islands, which are home only to huge populations of penguins, pinnipeds and seabirds.

_{According to rough estimates by Bloomberg, this will affect global trade worth $33 trillion.}

Observers have already assessed this step by Trump as the US declaring a global trade war. The EU has already announced that it is developing a package of retaliatory measures against American exports.

In response, the US Treasury Secretary called on countries hit by Trump's new tariffs to "sit back" and not retaliate.

"The history of trade is that we are a deficit country. A deficit country has an advantage. They are surplus countries. Surplus countries traditionally lose in any trade escalation. My advice to every country right now is: don't retaliate. Sit back, accept it, and see how it goes. Because if you retaliate, there will be escalation," the US minister said in a comment to Fox News.

Meanwhile, the US market reacted to Trump's executive order with panic and a trillion-dollar collapse in stock prices. As Bloomberg reports, oil prices and US stocks fell overnight. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell to $70,73 per barrel, down 1,4% from the settlement price, while US stock futures fell more than 3%. In monetary terms, the loss in stock prices amounted to $2 trillion.

In response, Trump declared a national emergency in the United States due to the trade deficit's threat to national security. According to the US president, "the source of the threat is outside the country," and the tariff and economic policies of trading partners are suppressing wages and consumption in the United States.