Donald Trump wants Obama in prison. Photo: AP
Global shares have fallen sharply on Friday as investors reacted to the reality of raft of tariffs confirmed by the White House. The blitz includes a dramatic 39pc tariff on Switzerland that’s set one of the world’s most important export economies into shock.
Japan and the European Union have locked in tariffs at 15pc but many economies have been hit with even higher trade barriers – including Canada (35pc) and India (25pc).
The average levy on imports to the world’s largest economy is now coming in at 15pc, the steepest since the 1930s.
“It’s a very high tariff wall,” said Deborah Elms, head of trade policy of the Hinrich Foundation. “The cost is going to be significantly higher for American companies and American consumers who will respond surely by buying less,” she said. Meanwhile, exporters outside the US are set to see demand fall.
“For the rest of the world, this is a serious demand shock,” Raghuram Rajan, former India central bank governor and chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, who is now a professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, told Bloomberg TV.
On Friday, Asian shares fell 0.7pc, Europe’s Stoxx 600 benchmark fell more than 2pc and is on track for its biggest weekly drop since Trump announced his first major wave of tariffs on ‘Liberation Day’ back in April.
In Dublin, the Iseq was down more than 3pc by Friday afternoon. AIB (-5.11pc) and Bank of Ireland (-3.69pc) were among the biggest decliners despite announcing profits this week. Both are seen as barometers of the wider Irish economy.
In the US weaker than expected jobs number further darkened investor sentiment.
Donald Trump wants Obama in prison. Photo: AP
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – Friday, August 1
It prompted money market traders to add bets for a rate cut from the Fed at its September meeting.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.5pc, bringing the total loss this week to roughly 2.7pc. Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.7pc lower. The US dollar, which had been on a strengthening streak earlier in the week reversed course after the bad jobs data. The dollar index, which measures the currency against six others, was last down 1pc on the day.