Trump's 'Liberation Day' reciprocal tariffs and global market crash
- Date
- 2-9 April 2025
- Category
- Economy & trade
- Region
- United States / Global
- Era
- Contemporary
- Significance
On 2 April 2025, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14257 imposing a 10 percent baseline tariff on nearly all US imports plus steep additional 'reciprocal' rates on dozens of trading partners, a measure he branded 'Liberation Day.' The move pushed the average effective US tariff to roughly 27 percent, the highest in more than a century, and triggered swift retaliation from China and others, igniting a global trade war.
Financial markets convulsed: equities shed a record sum estimated near 6.6 trillion dollars in two days, before a partial 90-day pause announced on 9 April sparked the S&P 500's largest single-day percentage gain since 2008. The episode upended decades of US free-trade orthodoxy, rattled supply chains, and fuelled fears of inflation and recession worldwide.
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Further reading
The wider story
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
Best-selling world history told through the trade routes that moved goods, faiths and ideas.
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