President Donald Trump's steep tariffs have raised concerns about rising prices in the world's largest consumer market and a global economic downturn, with Apple products in particular being hit hard by the price hikes.
President Donald Trump's steep tariffs have raised concerns about rising prices in the world's largest consumer market and a global economic downturn, with Apple products in particular being hit hard by the price hikes.
The sanctions announced by Trump have caused global financial markets to plummet and drawn condemnation from leaders who saw the end of a decades-long era of trade liberalization, Reuters writes.
The U.S. tariffs are the highest trade barriers in more than a century: a 10% base tariff on all imports and higher targeted tariffs on some of the country’s biggest trading partners. That could raise prices for American shoppers on everything from cannabis to sneakers to Apple’s iPhone. Rosenblatt Securities predicts that an iPhone could cost nearly $2,300 if Apple passes the cost on to consumers.
Automaker Stellantis said it would temporarily lay off U.S. workers and close plants in Canada and Mexico, while General Motors (GM.N) said it would increase production in the U.S. Investment bank JP Morgan said it now sees a 60% chance the global economy will enter a recession by the end of the year, up from 40% previously.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the United States had abandoned its historic role as a champion of international economic cooperation. “The global economy today is fundamentally different from what it was yesterday,” he said, announcing a limited set of countermeasures.
Meanwhile, China has vowed to retaliate against Trump's 54% tariff on imports from the world's second-largest economy, as has the European Union, which faces a 20% tariff.
French President Emmanuel Macron has called on European countries to suspend investments in the United States.
Other trading partners, including Japan, South Korea, Mexico and India, have said they will refrain from any retaliatory measures, seeking compromise solutions.
Washington's allies and rivals have warned of a devastating blow to global trade. Japan, one of the United States' biggest trading partners and its biggest foreign investor, is now facing a national crisis, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told parliament.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva urged Washington and its trading partners to work to resolve trade tensions and reduce uncertainty. Georgieva said tariffs “clearly pose a significant risk to the global outlook in a period of slow growth.”
The other day, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Senior Trade Adviser Peter Navarro said that the president would not back down and that tariff increases were not negotiable.
Yesterday we wrote about how the 47th US president's new tariff policy could affect global trade and big tech giants.
