US President Trump fired the first shot in the tariff war earlier this month, announcing that starting February 4, he would impose a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico, and a 10% tariff on China. However, just before it officially took effect, Trump announced that he had reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico, and the tariff would be postponed for a month.
The market originally believed that Trump's tariff policy might be further delayed, but on the evening of the 27th, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social, emphasizing that after entering March, his tariff policy will be implemented as scheduled, and an additional 10% tariff will be imposed on China (increasing to 20%):
Drugs are still pouring into our country at a very high and unacceptable rate from Mexico and Canada. A large portion of these drugs, especially fentanyl, are manufactured in China and supplied. Last year, over 100,000 people died from these dangerous and highly addictive drugs.
Over the past twenty years, millions have perished. The families of the victims have been devastated, and in many cases, nearly destroyed.
We cannot allow this disaster to continue to harm America, so the tariffs scheduled to take effect on March 4 will be implemented as planned. China will also be subject to an additional 10% tariff on that date. Equivalent tariffs on all countries will take full effect on April 2.
US Stocks All in the Red
Trump's latest tariff policy has once again shaken the financial market, and the latest economic data showing a slowdown in US economic growth has increased investors' concerns about the US economy falling into recession or stagflation. US stocks closed in the red yesterday, with the performance of the four major US stock indices as follows:
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: closed at 43,239.5 points, down 0.45%, or 193.62 points
- S&P 500 Index: closed at 5,861.57 points, down 1.59%, or 94.49 points
- Nasdaq Composite: closed at 18,544.42 points, plummeting 2.78%, or 530.85 points
- Philadelphia Semiconductor Index: closed at 4,686.75 points, plunging 6.09%, or 304.07 points
In terms of individual stocks, Nvidia, which had just announced its earnings, reacted strongly, closing 8.48% lower at $120.15 after hours. Large tech stocks such as Amazon, Meta, and Tesla also fell.
Bitcoin Drops Below $80,000
Due to the escalation of this event, Bitcoin plummeted sharply to a low of $79,829 at 10:45 this morning, with a weekly decline of more than 17%, setting a new low since November 10 last year.
Meanwhile, according to CoinGecko data, major Altcoins such as Ethereum and XRP have seen even more severe declines, with Ethereum falling below $2,200 and a drop of 8.2% in the past hour, and XRP approaching $2, with a drop of 6.6% in the past hour.
