US stock indices tumbled on Thursday amid aggressive selling pressures and correctional moves after President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs.
Earlier US data showed unemployment claims fell by 6 thousand to 219 thousand last week, while analysts expected a rise to 227 thousand.
US President Donald Trump announced new historic reciprocal tariffs on many countries, that start with a base 10% and rise by many folds depending on the country.
He described the new tariffs as “a declaration of independence” and today as the “liberation day”.
He accused the world of “looting, pillaging, and raping the US for many years” on the economic trade fronts, with barriers being put in front of US companies worldwide.
Trump said the new tariffs are pivotal to bring back wealth to the United States, and he believes the 1929 Great Depression wouldn’t have happened if tariffs were kept.
He called NAFTA one of the worst trade deals ever, and said a single Chinese shipping yard produces more than the entire US production of ships.
He imposed 34% additional tariffs on China, 24% on Japan, 20% on the EU, 46% on Vietnam, 26% on India, 32% on Taiwan, 10% on the UK.
On trading, Dow Jones fell 3.6% as of 14:31 GMT, or 1515 points to 40,710 points, while S&P 500 fell 3.9%, or 222 points to 5448 points, as NASDAQ gave up 5.3%, or 928 points to 16675 points.
