Over $3 Trillion Wiped Off US Stocks as New Tariffs Wars with China, Canada, Mexico Begin

•Commerce Secretary: Trump willing to shift ground if impacted countries do more

•Zelenskiy says Ukraine ready to return to negotiating table, calls Oval office spat regrettable

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The S&P 500 fell yesterday, officially erasing all the gains it had accrued since Donald Trump was declared winner of the 2024 presidential election in November as the US president made good his threats to impose sweeping tariffs on America’s largest trading partners.

A total of $3.4 trillion in value has now been wiped out since November 6, the day after the election was held, according to data from Bloomberg, reported by NBC news.

On Monday,  Trump announced that the  25 per cent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada will  take effect Tuesday, with 10 per cent on the country’s energy, raising fears of a trade war in North America and sending financial markets reeling.

He said there was “no room left” for a deal that would avert the tariffs by curbing fentanyl flows into the United States. Trump also said reciprocal tariffs would take effect on April 2 on countries that impose duties on US products.

Trump also raised fentanyl-related tariffs on Chinese imports to 20 per cent from 10 per cent currently, unless Beijing ends fentanyl trafficking into the US.

However, yesterday other major indexes fell in tandem: The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 1.5 per cent — edging closer to correction territory, meaning it is close to being 10 per cent lower than its last high; while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.8 per cent.

The biggest losers included automakers like GM and Ford, both of whom have significant manufacturing facilities in Mexico. Chipotle, which sources about half of its avocados from Mexico, slipped more than 2 per cent.

China responded to the new US tariffs by announcing it will impose additional tariffs of up to 15 per cent on imports of key US farm products, including chicken, pork, soy and beef, and expanded controls on doing business with key US companies.

Canada plans on slapping tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods over the course of 21 days. Mexico also plans tariffs on goods imported from the US.

The development took place as the US Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, said in an interview with Fox News, that Trump was willing to shift ground if both Canada and Mexico  are willing to do more. However, he added that the issue of pausing the tariffs altogether will not arise.

“Both Mexicans and Canadians were with me all day trying to show that they will do better. And the president is listening because he’s very fair and very reasonable. It’s not going to be a pause, none of that pause stuff, but I think he’s going to figure it out.

“You do more and I will meet you in the middle and we are going to probably be announcing that tomorrow. So, somewhere in the middle will likely be the outcome. (That is) the president moving with the Canadians and Mexicans, but not all the way,” Lutnick stated.

Meanwhile, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has reiterated Ukraine’s commitment to peace, saying the country is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible.

“None of us wants an endless war. Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts.

“We are ready to work fast to end the war, and the first stages could be the release of prisoners and truce in the sky — ban on missiles, long-range drones, bombs on energy and other civilian infrastructure — and truce in the sea immediately, if Russia will do the same. Then we want to move very fast through all next stages and to work with the US to agree a strong final deal.

“We do really value how much America has done to help Ukraine maintain its sovereignty and independence. And we remember the moment when things changed when President Trump provided Ukraine with Javelins. We are grateful for this,” he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

He acknowledged that the meeting in Washington, at the White House on Friday, did not go the way it was supposed to.

“It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.

“Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it at any time and in any convenient format. We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively,” he added

US Democrats have raised an outcry over Trump’s abrupt pivot towards Russia, the most dramatic geopolitical shift in generations for Washington, where governments under both parties since the 1940s have prioritised defending Europe from a hostile Moscow.

So far, leaders of Trump’s Republican party in Congress have made little or no pushback to the move.

Many Republicans had earlier been vocal backers of Ukraine, which relied on US and European military aid to fight bigger and better-armed Russia through three years of warfare that has killed and injured hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides.

Also, Trump has ordered a pause to all US military aid to Ukraine, turning up the heat on  Zelenskiy days after an Oval Office blow-up with the Ukrainian president left support from his country’s most important ally in doubt.

The US is holding up all pending military assistance until Trump determines Ukraine’s leaders demonstrate a good-faith commitment to peace, according to a senior Defense Department official, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. It will also review the aid to make sure it’s contributing to a solution to the conflict.

The impact was felt immediately along the Polish border with Ukraine at a key airport, one that serves as a transit hub for the transport of weapons and medical supplies, a Bloomberg report said.

The order applies to all US military equipment not currently in Ukraine, including weapons in transit on aircraft and ships or waiting in transit areas in Poland. While the extent of the affected weapons isn’t immediately known, Trump had inherited from former President Joe Biden the authority to deliver $3.85 billion in weapons from US stockpiles.