Trump's realised tariff threats sends markets and currencies into a tailspin

US sets sights on EU next

Eve Maddock-Jones
clock • 2 min read

US president Donald Trump has come through on his campaign promises and slapped a wider range of tariffs on his country’s biggest importers, triggering a wave of market volatility.

Trump announced a 25% tax on imports from Canada, Mexico and a 10% levy on Chinese products over the weekend. Within hours, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau unveiled a 25% counter-tariff on $107bn of US goods, while Mexican leader Claudia Sheinbaum pledged retaliatory levies. China had been celebrating the Lunar New Year over the weekend and amid this the Commerce Ministry issued a statement of "dissatisfaction" and vowed "corresponding countermeasures," without elaborating, according to reports. It pledged to file a complaint at the World Trade Organization and called on the...

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