Asian stock markets tumbled on Monday, while U.S. equity futures plummeted, as concerns over a potential global trade war sparked by President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China weighed heavily on investor sentiment.
The U.S. dollar surged to an all-time high against the Chinese yuan in offshore markets, while also reaching its highest point since 2003 against the Canadian dollar and its strongest level since 2022 versus the Mexican peso.
Japan’s Nikkei share average tumbled as much as 2.3% in the first minutes of trading, and Australia’s benchmark – which often functions as a proxy for Chinese markets – also slumped more than 2%.
Hong Kong stocks open later in the day, while mainland markets remain shut until Wednesday for Lunar New Year holidays.
China To Approach WTO
Trump slapped Canada and Mexico with duties of 25% and China with a 10% levy at the weekend, as he had threatened last month, calling the measures necessary to combat illegal immigration and the drug trade.
Canada and Mexico immediately vowed retaliatory measures, and China said it would challenge Trump’s levies at the World Trade Organization.
The tariffs, outlined in three executive orders, are due to take effect 12:01 a.m. ET (0501 GMT) on Tuesday.
Trump’s move was the first strike in what could usher in a destructive global trade war and drive a surge in U.S. inflation that would “come even faster and be larger than we initially expected,” said Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics.
A model gauging the economic impact of Trump’s tariff plan from EY chief economist Greg Daco suggests it would reduce U.S. growth by 1.5 percentage points this year, throw Canada and Mexico into recession and usher in “stagflation” at home.
Barclays strategists previously estimated that the tariffs could create a 2.8% drag on S&P 500 company earnings, including the projected fallout from retaliatory measures from the targeted countries.
S&P 500 futures slid 1.7%, after a 0.5% retreat for the cash index on Friday, when the White House reiterated Trump’s plan to announce tariffs on Saturday. Nasdaq futures slumped 2.5%, following Friday’s 0.3% loss for the cash index.
Massive Gain For Dollar
The U.S. dollar advanced 0.7% to 7.2552 yuan in the offshore market early in Asia’s morning, having earlier pushed to the record high of 7.3765 yuan. There will be no official onshore trading due to holidays.
The U.S. currency climbed 2.3% to 21.15 Mexican pesos, crossing the 21-peso line for the first time since July 2022, and rose 1.4% to C$1.4755, a level not seen since 2003.
The euro plunged as much as 2.3% to $1.0125 – the lowest level since November 2022 with Europe also potentially in Trump’s tariff crosshairs.
Japan’s yen was more resilient, losing 0.2% to 155.53 per dollar.
Cryptocurrency bitcoin tumbled as much as 5.8% to a three-week low of $96,191.39.
Oil prices rose, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude up 2.4% at $74.27 a barrel and Brent crude futures adding 1% to $76.40 a barrel.
(With inputs from Reuters)
