Transcript
Mike Baker (0:12)
It's Thursday, the 3rd of April. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, the world reacts to President Trump's massive Liberation Day tariff announcement as the stock market tumbles on fears of a looming recession. Later in the show, Israel unleashes a new wave of airstrikes across Syria in their latest warning to the new Islamist rulers in Damascus as tensions mount over Turkey's growing influence on the country. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. We'll begin with a global fallout over President Trump's sweeping new tariff regime, a policy broadside that's severely rattled investors and left world leaders scrambling for a response. As we discussed on this morning's show, the President unveiled his long anticipated tariff agenda on Wednesday, announcing plans to impose a 10% baseline tariff on all US imports, as well as heavier targeted reciprocal tariffs on roughly 60 countries deemed to be the worst trade offenders. Unsurprisingly, adversaries like China, which is also the US's third largest trading partner. They were hit hard, but not even close. Allies like Japan, South Korea, Israel, or the European Union nations were spared. Israel had even sought to get out ahead of the situation, announcing Tuesday that they were dropping all remaining tariffs on U.S. imports. But they were still hit with a 17% trade tax. The move sent shockwaves throughout the markets and threatens to upend global trade, impacting everything from foreign cars, electronics from China and Taiwan, clothing from Vietnam, and European consumer staples like Irish butter. The Irish do know their butter, don't they? So how are world leaders responding? Well, I'm glad you asked. The reactions have been slightly mixed, with most condemning the move and vowing economic retaliation. But some are taking a more cautious approach, expressing hopes of working out a new trade deal. But they'll have to act fast as the new reciprocal tariffs are set to take effect at midnight on 9 April. China swiftly vowed to impose countermeasures, warning that, quote, there's no winner in a trade war and protectionism leads nowhere. Trump hit China with a 34% reciprocal tariff, which adds to previous duties imposed earlier this year, raising the total baseline rate on Chinese imports to a whopping 54%. And when was the last time you heard anybody say whopping? A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry urged Washington to reverse course and resolve existing trade differences through, quote, fair, respectful and reciprocal consultations. Officials at China's Ministry of Commerce left the door open for negotiations, saying that they're always willing to engage with The US on issues of bilateral trade in Europe. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Trump's tariffs a, quote, major blow to the world economy and warned that the consequences could be dire for millions of people around the globe. She said the EU, which was hit with a 20% reciprocal tariff, is already finalizing new duties on some $28 billion worth of U.S. goods and are in the process of finalizing additional countermeasures. Some leaders within the 27 member bloc of the EU were sharper in their criticisms, with German Chancellor Olaf Schultz calling Trump's actions, quote, fundamentally wrong and a, quote, attack on a trade system that has created prosperity all around the world. Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Maloney, an ally of Trump, also called the tariffs, quote, wrong but vowed to work out a new deal with the US to avoid a trade war. Elsewhere, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer showed more restraint, saying he was taking a, quote, calm and pragmatic approach and would not opt to impose retaliatory measures at this time. He was already pushing for a new trade deal with the US Before Trump's announcement. Australia's prime minister, meanwhile, well, issued a fiery condemnation, saying the new tariffs are, quote, unwarranted, not the act of a friend, and have, quote, no basis in logic. Turning to the Far East, Japan's prime minister called the tariffs, quote, extremely regrettable and against our wishes, though it was not yet clear how they planned to respond. South Korea and Taiwan issued similar rebukes, with Taiwan's president calling the levies unreasonable, though he did not mention imposing retaliatory measures. Meanwhile, the major US Stock indexes all took a nosedive Thursday morning, following behind Asian and European markets which cratered overnight. On the news, the Dow Jones industrial average shed nearly 1500 points when the market opened, while the S&P 500 plunged more than 4%, putting it on track for its worst day since the COVID fueled declines seen back in September of 2022. The Tech Heavy NASDAQ saw the largest drop fueled by declines in Nvidia, Apple and Amazon stocks falling by more than 5%. Many economists are now predicting the tariffs, which impact trillions of dollars in goods, could drive many global economies into a recession. All right, coming up next, Israel unleashes a new wave of airstrikes across Syria in their latest warning to the new Islamist rulers in Damascus. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Well, let's take a look around at the economy and see what we see. Ah, well, tariff wars. We certainly have tariff wars, recession fears, and unfortunately, some stubborn inflation. So it's no wonder that gold has been routinely hitting all time highs and in volatile markets like. 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