Trump digs heels in as global markets continue to drop over tariffs
The S&P 500 was down 3.8% in early trading on Monday but later stocks on Wall Street turned positive in a sudden reversal.
US President Donald Trump remained defiant as global markets continued plunging and fears of a recession grew in the US after his tariff announcement last week.
Wall Street is sinking again, as worries deepen about whether Mr Trump’s trade war will torpedo the global economy.
The S&P 500 was down 3.8% in early trading on Monday, coming off its worst week since Covid-19 began crashing the global economy in March 2020.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,200 points, and the Nasdaq composite was 4% lower. Stocks in Hong Kong plunged 13.2% for their worst day since 1997. A barrel of benchmark US crude oil briefly dropped below 60 dollars for the first time since 2021.
But later, stocks on Wall Street turned positive in a sudden reversal and the Dow Jones index jumped 300 points, erasing the earlier loss of 1,700.
Earlier, Mr Trump claimed other countries had been “taking advantage of the Good OL’ USA!” in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform.
He wrote: “Our past ‘leaders’ are to blame for allowing this, and so much else, to happen to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The US leader has insisted his tariffs are necessary to rebalance global trade and rebuild domestic manufacturing. He has singled out China as “the biggest abuser of them all” and criticised Beijing for increasing its own tariffs in retaliation.
The Republican President also called on the US Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.
