In the initial 100 days of the Trump presidency, the global economic order had been stirred by the unsettling impact of tariffs. President Trump’s first 100 days, 70 of volatile financial market trading, and 33 consecutive days of losses marked a troubling start. The total value of public companies decreased by an astonishing $6.5 trillion.
Looking at the financial markets, there was a 9 percent decline in the S&P 500. This adverse beginning to a presidential term has not been witnessed since Gerald R. Ford’s inauguration after Richard Nixon’s infamous Watergate incident in August 1974. The current economic fallout even surpasses the aftermath of the tech bubble burst at the dawn of the 21st-century.
In that instance, George W. Bush took the reins of a plummeting market that had already commenced its free fall. In stark contrast, Mr. Trump stepped into an economy that was in a fairly buoyant state, with record high after record high being noted in the stock market.
However, the economic landscape drastically altered with the introduction of Mr. Trump’s signature tariffs on April 2. These were not the administration’s first tariff impositions, but they were by far the most extensive. The repercussions of this were immediately felt as the stock market experienced an upheaval.
Across Wall Street, there was a frantic attempt to understand the economic implications of this new policy direction. The S&P 500 spiraled downwards, experiencing more than a 10 percent plunge over two days. This sequence of events was a chilling reminder of the most disheartening days of the global financial crisis in 2008, as well as the pandemic-triggered devaluation in March 2020.
Although the stocks have managed to achieve some form of equilibrium since then, the resonances of the turbulent introduction of tariffs are still causing fluctuations across the globe’s financial systems. This scenario continues to send ripples across global finances, which were destabilized by the abrupt introduction of the tariffs.