What America’s stockmarket plunge means

A MERICAN STOCKS suffered along with the country’s trading partners on April 3rd, as both took a hammering from President Donald Trump. The announcement a day earlier of near-universal tariffs, and particularly steep levies against some Asian countries, shocked investors out of any complacency they may still have held regarding the new administration’s trade policies. The S&P 500 index dropped by almost 5% over the course of the day, leaving it down by more than 12% since its peak in February. Share prices of American firms reliant on imports and supply chains fell even more sharply: Best Buy, a retailer, ended the day down by 18%; Dell, a computer-maker, by 19%.

Asia is hit hardest, but nowhere looks good

In Dzaleka, Malawi, everyone receives $9 a month

Prized and in short supply, its price is very volatile

He offers the only way out of a supremely difficult situation

The president jacks up tariffs on all countries, with particularly sharp rises for much of Asia

How a Depression-era lending scheme became a trillion-dollar wheeze

https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/04/03/what-americas-stockmarket-plunge-means

A source: www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/04/03/what-americas-stockmarket-plunge-means