Trump Tariffs Trigger Global Stock Markets’ Black Monday

TOKYO, MONDAY - Global stock markets plunged throughout Monday (7/4/2025). Conglomerates said the world was threatened with winter due to the economic "nuclear war" launched by United States President Donald Trump.

The Nikkei-225 index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Japan closed down 7.83 percent. The index has been continuously cut since Trump's announcement of import duties (BMI) on April 2, 2025, Washington DC time or April 3 morning Tokyo time.

From 35,695 points in Tuesday's trading, the Nikkei-225 immediately corrected to 34,740 points on Wednesday last week. The correction continued until early this week.

"Stocks have plunged due to the unreasonable tariff policy of the U.S. administration under Donald Trump. The market turmoil will not subside until the policy is revised," Hiroshi Watanabe, chief economist at Sony Financial Group, was quoted as saying by Kyodonews.

The plummeting index forced the Tokyo Stock Exchange to halt trading for a while on Monday, as it tried to control panic among investors who were rushing to dump shares amid concerns about the gloomy outlook for economic performance.

Today's cut is reminiscent of the severe correction in trading on Tuesday, October 20, 1987. At that time, the Tokyo stock exchange was affected by a global phenomenon called "Black Monday". The term was used to refer to the global stock exchange falling at the beginning of the week. Now, the global stock exchange is also falling at the beginning of the week.

Nomura Securities analyst Maki Sawada said the worst is yet to come. "There has been no response to the risk of a global economic downturn and corporate earnings," he said.

In South Korea, the Kospi index fell 5.57 percent to 2,328 points. The sharp decline forced the Seoul stock exchange management to temporarily halt trading.

Foreign investors dumped 2.09 trillion won worth of stocks. "The turmoil in Korean stocks was driven by the Trump administration's unexpected tariff policy," Shinhan Securities analyst Park Seok-joong was quoted as saying by Yonhap.

In Australia, investors dumped shares worth A$97 billion. The ASX 200 index fell 4.2 percent to 7,343 points.

The drop was one of the worst since May 2020, when investors dumped A$96.6 billion worth of stocks amid the Covid-19 pandemic. "Many don't understand why Trump doesn't see the carnage he's created on Wall Street," Bell Potter analyst Richard Coppleson told The Australian Financial Review.

Stock exchanges in various Asian and European countries also plunged. The index cuts have occurred since Trump announced the BMI on Tuesday.

In a statement on Sunday, Trump insisted that the policy was right and would not change it. He said the U.S. economy is sick and needs to be fixed. BMI is one way to fix that.

Since Trump's announcement, US stock market indices have plunged. Investors have lost assets as stock prices plunged.

Trump's stance has sparked protests from several parties. At least two conglomerate supporters of Trump, Elon Musk and Bill Ackman, have expressed their disapproval of the implementation of mass BMI.

Musk said the EU should not be subject to a single percent BMI, while Ackman said the policy could erode trust.

Ackman does not deny that many countries take advantage of the US by enjoying a trade surplus. However, the mass application of BMI to allies and partners and thereby triggering a global economic war is tantamount to destroying trust in the US as a trading partner and investment destination.

Trump, Ackman said, has unleashed a global economic “nuclear war.” Investment has stopped, consumers have stopped spending, and confidence in the U.S. has been shattered. “It’s going to take years to recover,” he said.

Managers and decision makers in companies will not dare to make business decisions. In such gloomy conditions, companies will limit investment and lay off workers.

He urged Trump to act immediately. Trump still has time before the mass BMI with higher tariffs goes into effect on April 9, 2025. Otherwise, the world economy will enter an economic “nuclear war” winter. (AFP/REUTERS/AP)