Tariff Shock: Asian stocks sink, fears of ‘economic nuclear winter’ rise

Stock markets have plunged in Asia, as President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to send shockwaves around the world.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 has dropped by 6.3 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is down 9.8 percent with Hong-Kong listed shares of UK banks HSBC and Standard Charted also plunging

The BBC reports that President Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One, defended his tariff policy, saying “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something”

Bill Ackman, one of President Trump’s most prominent Wall Street backers, said the tariffs could lead the world into a “economic nuclear winter” as he calls for a 90-day pause on the taxes.

Similary, Indian markets opened with sharp cuts, tracking the huge amount of nervousness among their Asian peers.

A bit of the rally the markets saw in March had evaporated in barely a few days, following President Trump’s tariff announcements.

The turmoil will continue for a while and only positive trade negotiations will “help arrest the market slide”, said analyst Arun Kejriwal.

Earlier, US stock market futures were sharply down, indicating that Wall Street shares are likely to fall when they open later in the day

US President Donald Trump defended the sweeping tariffs he announced last week, saying late on Sunday that “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something”

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