Global markets in turmoil as Trump threatens all countries with tariffs

31st Mar 2025 11:26

(Sharecast News) - Global share markets were in turmoil on Monday as US President Donald Trump said he would impose tariffs on all countries and told his advisers to get even more aggressive with tariffs ahead of a raft of new levies due to take effect on Wednesday.

Investors sold off equities and pushed the gold price to a new record high as they sought safe havens to shield their investments from market volatility amid fears that Trump's policies will spark a recession in the US.

Merchant bank Goldman Sachs said it now estimated a 35% probability the world's biggest economy would enter a recession during the next 12 months, up from 20%, warning that earnings growth was likely to be weaker this year, and next, than expected.

Trump has pushed his team to devise plans that would apply higher rates of tariffs on a broader set of countries, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

The president reinforced the narrative on Sunday night, saying he would target "essentially all" of US trading partners with tariffs of some kind, the newspaper added. He has pledged a "Liberation Day" on April 2, when he is set to unveil reciprocal levies.

"You'd start with all countries, so let's see what happens," Trump told reporters, effectively dismissing suggestions he would tone down some of the threatened levies.

Tariffs have already been imposed on steel and aluminium imports along with extra levies on Chinese goods. Automakers are still reeling from plans to slap a 25% tariff on vehicles and parts.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com