ZURICH/WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s latest wave of tariffs on exports from dozens of trading partners sent global stock markets tumbling on Friday and countries and companies scrambling to seek ways to strike better deals.
As Trump presses ahead with plans to reorder the global economy with the highest tariff rates since the early 1930s, Switzerland, “stunned” by 39 percent tariffs, sought more talks, as did India, hit with a 25 percent rate.
New tariffs also include a 35 percent duty on many goods from Canada, 50 percent for Brazil, 20 percent for Taiwan, which said its rate was “temporary” and it expected to reach a lower figure.
The presidential order listed higher import duty rates of 10 percent to 41 percent starting in a week’s time for 69 trading partners, taking the US effective tariff rate to about 18 percent, from 2.3 percent last year, according to analysts at Capital Economics.
US stocks reeled. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 1.23 percent at 43,588.58, the S&P 500 1.6 percent to 6,238.01 and the Nasdaq Composite 2.24 percent at 20,650.13.
