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US President Donald Trump cautioned against “stupid” panic on Monday as a global stock market rout deepened after Beijing retaliated against his tariffs offensive.Shares in New York joined the slump, with all three major US indices falling more than three percent in early trading.European equities were deep in the red but Asia fared worse, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index crashing 13.2 percent, its biggest drop since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 falling an eye-watering 7.8 percent.A 10-percent “baseline” tariff on imports from around the world took effect Saturday but a slew of countries will be hit by higher duties from Wednesday, with levies of 34 percent for Chinese goods and 20 percent for EU products.Minutes before the markets opened in New York, Trump posted that his tariff reforms were “a chance to do something that should have been done decades ago.””Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid!… Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!” he urged.Beijing announced last week its own 34-percent tariff on US goods, which will come into effect on Thursday.The move pushed Trump to chastise China for not heeding “my warning for abusing countries not to retaliate” as he called Beijing “the biggest abuser of them all” on tariffs.But Chinese vice commerce minister Ling Ji said the tit-for-tat duties “are aimed at bringing the United States back onto the right track of the multilateral trade system.””The root cause of the tariff issue lies in the United States,” Ling told representatives of US companies on Sunday.EU trade ministers gathered in Luxembourg on Monday to discuss the bloc’s response, with Germany and France having advocated a tax targeting US tech giants.”We must not exclude any option on goods, on services,” said French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin.- ‘Aggressive’ options -The 27-nation bloc should “open the European toolbox, which is very comprehensive and can also be extremely aggressive,” he said.German Economy Minister Robert Habeck likewise said Europe should be prepared to use its trade “bazooka” — a new anti-coercion mechanism allowing it to punish any country using economic threats to exert pressure on the EU.But signs of divergence emerged from Ireland, whose low corporate tax rate has attracted US tech and pharmaceutical companies.Targeting services “would be an extraordinary escalation,” said Irish Trade Minister Simon Harris.Trump on Sunday had doubled down, saying “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”He told reporters aboard Air Force One that world leaders were “dying to make a deal.”Trillions of dollars have been wiped off stocks worldwide since Trump announced the tariffs last week, and the losses deepened on Monday.JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned the tariffs “will likely increase inflation,” in a letter to shareholders Monday.”Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth,” he said.Taipei recorded its heaviest loss on record as it sank 9.7 percent.The Stoxx Europe 600 index was down five percent in early afternoon deals, with more than 1.5 trillion euros of market capitalization going up in smoke over just a few days.The main US oil contract dropped below $60 a barrel for the first time since April 2021 on worries of a global recession.- Global demand ‘vanishing’ -“The market’s telling you in plain language: global demand is vanishing, and a global recession is on the cards and coming on fast,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.US officials said more than 50 countries have reached out to Trump to negotiate.Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Monday he had held a call with Trump in which they agreed to more talks on the tariffs.Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel — hit with 17 percent tariffs, despite being one of Washington’s closest allies — was due on Monday to become the first leader to meet Trump since last week’s announcement.Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse with a big trade surplus with the United States, has already reached out and requested a delay of at least 45 days to thumping 46-percent tariffs.

Honda’s executive vice president resigned on Monday over “an allegation of inappropriate conduct”, the Japanese automaker said.The incident occurred “during a social gathering outside of work hours”, Honda said in a statement without specifying what accusations were made against Shinji Aoyama, who is also the company’s director.”It is deeply regrettable that an individual positioned as a leader in the management of the company, and who is expected to set an example for the respect of human rights… has become the subject of an allegation of conduct contrary to these principles,” the company statement said.Honda declined to reveal details of Aoyama’s conduct, citing privacy concerns for the victim, Kyodo news agency reported.The firm’s audit committee had investigated the incident and presented a disciplinary action plan to the board of directors, who were “scheduled to make a decision”.However, Aoyama submitted his resignation letter before the board had made any move, the statement said.”The Company’s Board of Directors has determined that it is appropriate for Mr. Aoyama to resign from his position,” it said.Honda President Toshihiro Mibe will voluntarily return 20 percent of his monthly compensation for two months due to “the seriousness of this matter”, the company said.”The company sincerely apologises for any discomfort caused by such conduct, and for the significant disturbance and concern it has caused to all stakeholders.”

India’s Adani Group said on Monday it had opened an $800 million container terminal in Sri Lanka, right next to a similar facility operated by a Chinese company.The Adani development at Sri Lanka’s main seaport in Colombo is widely seen as a counter to the rival Chinese terminal and as a means for India to secure a foothold at the strategic facility.The launch of the Adani-operated facility came a day after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded a state visit to Sri Lanka during which he secured defence and energy deals with Colombo.”The commencement of operations at CWIT (Colombo West International Terminal) marks a momentous milestone in regional cooperation between India and Sri Lanka,” billionaire chairman Gautam Adani, a key ally of Modi, said in a statement.Sri Lanka lies at a key halfway point along the main east–west international maritime route and Colombo is a major transhipment hub for South Asia.The company said it had completed 600 metres (660 yards) out of a final 1,400-metre long berth with a depth of 20 metres that is able to handle the largest container ships.- ‘Global maritime map’ -“Not only does this terminal represent the future of trade in the Indian Ocean, but its opening is also a proud moment for Sri Lanka, placing it firmly on the global maritime map,” Adani said.The joint venture went ahead despite the Indian conglomerate withdrawing in December a request for a US government-backed $533 million loan for the construction.The move followed an indictment in New York in November 2024, which accused the Adani Group of deliberately misleading international investors as part of a bribery scheme. Adani has denied any wrongdoing.The other partners in the Adani port venture are Sri Lanka’s publicly listed John Keells Holdings and the state-owned Sri Lanka Ports Authority.Construction began in early 2022, with the first phase featuring eight automated ship-to-shore cranes and 18 gantry cranes.There were no public statements from either side during Modi’s visit about Adani’s withdrawal from another venture, a $442 million wind power project in the north of Sri Lanka.That withdrawal followed a decision by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s administration to revoke a power purchase agreement with the Adani Group in order to negotiate lower energy prices.Dissanayake’s party had strongly criticised the deal as “corrupt” and called for it to be renegotiated.

US President Donald Trump lashed out at China on Monday as a stock market rout deepened after Beijing retaliated against his global tariffs offensive.European equities were deep in the red but Asia fared worse, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index crashing 13.2 percent, its biggest drop since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 falling an eye-watering 7.8 percent.A 10-percent “baseline” tariff on imports from around the world took effect on Saturday but a slew of countries will be hit by higher duties from Wednesday, with levies of 34 percent for Chinese goods and 20 percent for EU products.While other countries weigh their options, Beijing announced last week its own 34-percent tariff on US goods, which will come into effect on Thursday. Trump chastised Beijing early Monday for not heeding “my warning for abusing countries not to retaliate” as he called China “the biggest abuser of them all” on tariffs.Chinese vice commerce minister Ling Ji said the tit-for-tat duties “are aimed at bringing the United States back onto the right track of the multilateral trade system.””The root cause of the tariff issue lies in the United States,” Ling told representatives of US companies on Sunday, according to his ministry.EU trade ministers gathered in Luxembourg on Monday to discuss the bloc’s own response, with Germany and France having advocated a tax targeting US tech giants.”We must not exclude any option on goods, on services,” said French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin.The 27-nation bloc should “open the European toolbox, which is very comprehensive and can also be extremely aggressive,” he said.German Economy Minister Robert Habeck likewise said Europe should be prepared to use its trade “bazooka” — a new anti-coercion mechanism allowing it to punish any country using economic threats to exert pressure on the EU.But signs of divergence already emerged, with Ireland, whose low corporate tax rate has attracted US tech and pharmaceutical companies, warning against that course of action.Targeting services “would be an extraordinary escalation at a time when we must be working for de-escalation,” said Irish Trade Minister Simon Harris.- Recession fears -Trump on Sunday doubled down on his demand to slash deficits with trading partners, saying he would not cut any deals unless that was resolved.”Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” said Trump, whose administration has shrugged off the market panic.He told reporters aboard Air Force One that world leaders were “dying to make a deal.”Trillions of dollars have been wiped off stocks worldwide since Trump announced the tariffs last week, and the losses deepened on Monday, with US markets expected to open deep in the red.JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned the tariffs “will likely increase inflation,” in a letter to shareholders Monday.”Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth,” he said.Taipei recorded its heaviest loss on record as it sank 9.7 percent.The Stoxx Europe 600 index was down five percent in early afternoon deals, with more than 1.5 trillion euros of market capitalization going up in smoke over just a few days.The main US oil contract dropped below $60 a barrel for the first time since April 2021 on worries of a global recession.”The market’s telling you in plain language: global demand is vanishing, and a global recession is on the cards and coming on fast,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.- Status quo ‘gone’ -US officials said more than 50 countries have reached out to Trump to negotiate.Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, whose country faces a 24-percent levy, said Tokyo would present Trump with a “package” of measures to win relief from US tariffs ahead of a mooted call between the leaders.Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel — hit with 17 percent tariffs, despite being one of Washington’s closest allies — was due on Monday to become the first leader to meet Trump since last week’s announcement.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned in a newspaper op-ed that “the world as we knew it has gone”, saying the status quo would increasingly hinge on “deals and alliances.”Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse with a big trade surplus with the United States, has already reached out and requested a delay of at least 45 days to thumping 46-percent tariffs.

US buyers have begun halting orders from Bangladesh, the world’s second-biggest garment manufacturer, after punishing US tariffs that pushed the government in Dhaka to plead on Monday for a three-month pause to the levies.Textile and garment production accounts for about 80 percent of exports in Bangladesh and the industry has been rebuilding after it was hit hard in a student-led revolution that toppled the government last year.US President Donald Trump hit Bangladesh with biting new tariffs of 37 percent on Wednesday, hiking duties from the previous 16 percent on cotton products.Reports of the swift biting impact come as interim leader Muhammad Yunus pleaded with Trump to “postpone the application of US reciprocal tariff measures”, the government said in a statement.Yunus wrote to Trump to ask for “three months to allow the interim government to smoothly implement its initiative to substantially increase US exports to Bangladesh”, the statement added.Those products include “cotton, wheat, corn and soybean which will offer benefits to US farmers”, it read.”Bangladesh will take all necessary actions to fully support your trade agenda,” Yunus told Trump, according to the statement.- ‘In limbo’ -Manufacturers said the impact had been near immediate.Mohammad Mushfiqur Rahman, managing director of Essensor Footwear and Leather Products, said he received a letter from one of his buyers requesting a shipment halt.”My buyer asked me to stop a shipment of leather goods — including bags, belts, and wallets — worth $300,000 on Sunday,” Rahman told AFP.”He’s a long-time buyer and now both of us are in limbo over the issue.”Rahman, who has been operating since 2008, usually sends goods averaging about $100,000 to the United States every month.Bangladesh exported approximately $8.4 billion worth of goods to the United States last year, of which $7.34 billion came from the ready-made garments sector.Bengali newspaper Prothom Alo also quoted AKM Saifur Rahman, CEO of ready-made garments producer Wikitex-BD, saying that his US buyer had requested a halt to a shipment worth $150,000.”My US buyer said it is not possible to pass the extra cost on to their clients, so we need to lower the price,” Rahman told the daily.- ‘Request your patience’ -Md Anwar Hossain, government-appointed administrator of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), sent a letter to US-based buyers pleading for understanding.”We are aware that several brands and retailers have already reached out to their Bangladeshi suppliers, expressing concern and, in some cases, discussing possible measures to mitigate the impact,” Hossain wrote.”We understand the urgency, but transferring the burden downstream to suppliers at this early stage will only exacerbate the stress,” he added.”We humbly request your patience and support during this period as Bangladesh pursues a meaningful resolution.”But former BGMEA director Mohiuddin Rubel said some buyers have already asked for shipments to be put on hold until further notice.”In particular, smaller buyers are pressuring suppliers to either absorb the full tariff, or share the cost,” Rubel told AFP.

Stock markets and oil prices collapsed further on a black Monday for markets as US President Donald Trump stood firm over his tariffs despite recession fears.Trading floors across Asia and Europe were overcome by waves of further selling after last week’s sharp losses.Hong Kong’s drop of 13.2 percent Monday was its worst in nearly three decades.Trillions of dollars have been wiped off combined stock market valuations in recent sessions. Taipei stocks suffered their worst fall on record Monday, tanking 9.7 percent, while Frankfurt dived as much as 10 percent and Tokyo closed down by almost eight percent.Hong Kong’s loss was exaggerated as the index had been closed Friday for a public holiday.Wall Street futures suffered another drubbing, while bitcoin tumbled. The dollar was steadier after sharp losses last week.”The carnage in global equity markets has continued,” noted Thomas Mathews, Asia Pacific head of markets at Capital Economics.He said Trump could still pare back his tariffs. “But, if he doesn’t, equities could get a lot sicker yet.”A 10-percent “baseline” tariff on imports from around the world took effect Saturday.However, a slew of countries will be hit by higher duties from Wednesday, with levies of 34 percent for Chinese goods and 20 percent for EU products.Countries mostly have been scrambling to blunt the new US tariffs without retaliating, but Beijing is responding in kind, escalating the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.Beijing announced last week its own 34-percent tariff on US goods, which will come into effect on Thursday.Hopes that the US president would rethink his policy in light of the turmoil were dashed Sunday when he said he would not make a deal with other countries unless trade deficits were solved.”Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” he said of the ructions that have wiped trillions of dollars off company valuations.Wall Street’s three main indices dived almost six percent Friday.- No sector spared -Monday’s savage selling was across the board, with no sector spared.Tech firms, carmakers, banks, casinos and energy firms all felt the pain as investors abandoned riskier assets.Among the biggest losers, Chinese ecommerce titans Alibaba tanked 18 percent and rival JD.com shed 15.5 percent, while Japanese tech investment giant SoftBank dived more than 12 percent and Sony gave up 10 percent.Hong Kong’s 13-percent drop marked its worst day since 1997 during the Asian financial crisis.Shanghai shed more than seven percent, with China’s state-backed fund Central Huijin Investment vowing to help ensure “stable operations” of the market.Singapore plunged nearly eight percent, while Seoul gave up more than five percent, triggering a so-called sidecar mechanism — for the first time in eight months — that briefly halted some trading. Sydney, Wellington, Manila and Mumbai were also deep in the red, while London and Paris both dropped nearly four percent in midday deals. Milan and Madrid each shed more than four percent, with all sectors also affected across Europe.Concerns about future energy demand saw oil prices sink about three percent, having dropped some seven percent Friday. Both main contracts are now sitting at their lowest levels since 2021. The Kremlin said it was monitoring the plummeting price of oil — on which Russia’s economy is highly dependent.- Key figures around 1045 GMT -London – FTSE 100: DOWN 3.4 percent at 7,779.08 points Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 3.9 percent at 6,987.91Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 3.7 percent at 19,881.07 Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 7.8 percent at 31,136.58 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 13.2 percent at 19,828.30 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 7.3 percent at 3,096.58 (close)New York – Dow: DOWN 5.5 percent at 38,314.86 (close) West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.7 percent at $60.27 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 2.6 percent at $63.85 per barrelEuro/dollar: UP at $1.0972 from $1.0962 on FridayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2849 from $1.2893Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.45 yen from 146.98 yen Euro/pound: UP at 85.37 pence from 85.01 penceburs-bcp/ajb/rl

US buyers have begun halting orders from Bangladesh, the world’s second-biggest garment manufacturer, after punishing US tariffs, leaders of the South Asian nation’s critical industry warned on Monday.Textile and garment production accounts for about 80 percent of exports in Bangladesh and the industry has been rebuilding after it was hit hard in a student-led revolution that toppled the government last year.US President Donald Trump hit Bangladesh with punishing new tariffs of 37 percent on Wednesday, hiking duties from the previous 16 percent on cotton products.Mohammad Mushfiqur Rahman, managing director of Essensor Footwear and Leather Products, said he received a letter from one of his buyers requesting a shipment halt.”My buyer asked me to stop a shipment of leather goods — including bags, belts, and wallets — worth $300,000 on Sunday,” Rahman told AFP.”He’s a long-time buyer and now both of us are in limbo over the issue.”Rahman, who has been operating since 2008, usually sends goods averaging about $100,000 to the United States every month.Bangladesh exported approximately $8.4 billion worth of goods to the United States last year, of which $7.34 billion came from the ready-made garments sector.Bengali newspaper Prothom Alo also quoted AKM Saifur Rahman, CEO of ready-made garments producer Wikitex-BD, saying that his US buyer had requested a halt to a shipment worth $150,000.”My US buyer said it is not possible to pass the extra cost on to their clients, so we need to lower the price”, Rahman told the daily.- ‘Request your patience’ -Md Anwar Hossain, government-appointed administrator of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), sent a letter to US-based buyers pleading for understanding.”We are aware that several brands and retailers have already reached out to their Bangladeshi suppliers, expressing concern and, in some cases, discussing possible measures to mitigate the impact”, Hossain wrote.”We understand the urgency, but transferring the burden downstream to suppliers at this early stage will only exacerbate the stress,” he added.”We humbly request your patience and support during this period as Bangladesh pursues a meaningful resolution.”But former BGMEA director Mohiuddin Rubel said some buyers have already asked for shipments to be put on hold until further notice.”In particular, smaller buyers are pressuring suppliers to either absorb the full tariff, or share the cost,” Rubel told AFP.Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus, who held an emergency meeting on Saturday to assess the impact of the tariffs, is writing to Trump about the impact, his press secretary Shafiqul Alam said Sunday.

Monday’s stock market collapses in Asia and Europe after China retaliated to steep US tariffs revived memories of similar market turmoil after the Covid pandemic and the last global financial crisis.Analysts called the falls “historic” and some even described it as a “bloodbath”, recalling previous collapses since the start of the last century.- 2020: Pandemic -Global stocks crashed in March 2020 after the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic, putting much of the world under lockdown. On March 12, 2020 — the day after the announcement — Paris fell 12 percent, Madrid 14 percent and Milan 17 percent. London dropped 11 percent and New York 10 percent in the worst fall since 1987.Further falls came over the following days, with US indexes dropping more than 12 percent.The rapid response by national governments, which dug deep to keep their economies afloat, helped most markets rebound within months.- 2008: Subprime crisis -The 2008 global financial crisis was caused by bankers in the United States giving subprime mortgages to people on shaky financial footing and then selling them off as investments, fuelling a housing boom.When borrowers became unable to pay their mortgages, millions lost their homes, the stock market crashed and the banking system buckled, culminating with the dramatic bankruptcy of investment bank Lehman Brothers.From January to October that year, the world’s main stock markets fell between 30 and 50 percent.- 2000: Dot.com bubble -The start of the millennium saw the deflation of the tech bubble caused by venture capitalists throwing money at unproven companies.From a record 5,048.62 points on March 10, 2000, the US tech-heavy Nasdaq index lost 39.3 percent in value over the year.Many internet startups went out of business.- 1987: Black Monday -Wall Street crashed on October 19, 1987, on the back of large US trade and budget deficits and interest rates hikes. The Dow Jones index lost 22.6 percent, causing panic on markets worldwide.- 1929: Wall Street collapse -October 24, 1929 became known as “Black Thursday” on Wall Street after a bull market imploded, causing the Dow Jones to lose more than 22 percent of its value at the start of trade.Stocks recouped most lost ground during the day but the rot set in: October 28 and 29 also saw huge losses in a crisis that marked the beginning of the Great Depression in the United States and a global economic crisis.burs-phz/lth

Hong Kong small-time investors were left reeling on Monday as US President Donald Trump’s punishing tariffs and Beijing’s retaliation saw the city’s stock market suffer its worst day in almost three decades.The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell by 13.2 percent — its biggest drop since 1997 during the Asian financial crisis — as a wider selloff played out across in Asian markets also spurred by China’s retaliatory levies.At a securities brokerage in Hong Kong’s finance district, where more than a dozen elderly investors stared at numbers flashing red on computer screens, the mood was grim.A woman in her nineties surnamed Tam said she “hated” Trump.”He cost me HK$200,000 ($25,700),” she said.”He’s nonsensical, he says one thing and changes his mind a few minutes later… How can someone in such a lofty position act like that?”None of the Hang Seng Index’s 83 constituent stocks escaped losses on Monday.Among the biggest losers were Lenovo Group, which plunged 23 percent, and Alibaba Group, down 18 percent.”(Trump) won’t let it go, he’s making a mess,” said another retiree surnamed Lee.”Everyone around me is losing money.”The Chinese finance hub resumed trading on Monday after a three-day break, which worsened the drawdown, according to Stanley Chik, head of research at Bright Smart Securities.”For Hong Kong equities, it is rare to see across-the-board losses to this extent,” Chik told AFP, though he said they were on par with how US markets reacted.Hong Kong’s stock market had outperformed the United States since Trump took office, but Monday’s rout wiped out HSI gains from the first quarter of this year.Investors in the city have taken a wait-and-see approach for weeks as Trump finalised his trade policies, Chik said, adding that the mood was not yet one of “despair”.Hong Kong tops the world in retail investor participation, with one 2023 survey showing that 48 percent of the respondents held or traded stocks in the preceding year.A 35-year-old man surnamed Tsang said his long-term investments lost around $12,900 on Monday, but he would not consider selling yet.”I didn’t expect it to get so bad,” said Tsang, a Hong Kong commercial bank employee.China A-shares may be more resilient, he added. “In this sort of fight (between China and the United States), it’s hard to say who will suffer more.”Lawyer Ray Chan, 30, was among those left unscathed on Monday, as he sold all his Hong Kong and US shareholdings two weeks ago, netting gains in the seven figures.”We’re clearly entering a bear market but I’m prepared,” Chan told AFP. “When (Trump) said there would be tariffs on April 2, I could guess where things were headed.”It will take “at least a year” before he returns to the market, Chan said.

A global stock market rout deepened on Monday, with Hong Kong crashing as US President Donald Trump stood firm on tariffs despite fears that his trade war could spark a recession.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index sank 13.2 percent, its biggest drop since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell an eye-watering 7.8 percent. Countries mostly have been scrambling to blunt the new US tariffs without retaliating, but Beijing is responding in kind, escalating the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.A 10-percent “baseline” tariff on imports from around the world took effect on Saturday but a slew of countries will be hit by higher duties from Wednesday, with levies of 34 percent for Chinese goods and 20 percent for EU products.Beijing announced last week its own 34-percent tariff on US goods, which will come into effect on Thursday.The tit-for-tat duties “are aimed at bringing the United States back onto the right track of the multilateral trade system”, Chinese vice commerce minister Ling Ji said.”The root cause of the tariff issue lies in the United States,” Ling told representatives of US companies on Sunday, according to his ministry.EU trade ministers will weigh their response at a meeting on Monday, with the bloc’s trade chief, Maros Sefcovic, telling reporters in Luxembourg that they were facing a “paradigm shift of the global trading system”.- Recession fears -Trump on Sunday doubled down on his demand to slash deficits with trading partners, saying he would not cut any deals unless that was resolved.”Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” he said.He told reporters aboard Air Force One that world leaders were “dying to make a deal”.Trillions of dollars have been wiped off stocks worldwide since Trump announced the tariffs last week, and the losses deepened on Monday.Taipei recorded its heaviest loss on record as it sank 9.7 percent.In Europe, Frankfurt’s DAX sank as much as 10 percent in early deals before paring back losses. The German index and Paris were down over six percent in late morning deals, while London fell 4.5 percent.US markets were expected to open deep in the red later on Monday.The main US oil contract dropped below $60 a barrel for the first time since April 2021 on worries of a global recession.- ‘Deals and alliances’ -“(This) is blunt-force economic warfare,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.”The market’s telling you in plain language: global demand is vanishing, and a global recession is on the cards and coming on fast,” Innes said.Trump’s staggered deadlines have left space for some countries to negotiate, even as he insisted he would stand firm and his administration warned against any retaliation.”More than 50 countries have reached out to the president to begin a negotiation,” Kevin Hassett, head of the White House National Economic Council, told ABC’s This Week on Sunday.Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, whose country faces a 24-percent levy, said on Monday that Tokyo would present Trump with a “package” of measures to win relief from US tariffs ahead of a mooted call between the leaders.Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel — hit with 17 percent tariffs, despite being one of Washington’s closest allies — was due on Monday to become the first leader to meet Trump since last week’s announcement.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned in a newspaper op-ed that “the world as we knew it has gone”, saying the status quo would increasingly hinge on “deals and alliances”.Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse that counted the United States as its biggest export market in the first quarter, has already reached out and requested a delay of at least 45 days to thumping 46-percent tariffs imposed by Trump.- ‘Bad actors’ -US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told NBC’s Meet the Press that Trump has “created maximum leverage for himself”.”I think we’re going to have to see what the countries offer and whether it’s believable,” Bessent said.Other countries have been “bad actors for a long time and it’s not the kind of thing you can negotiate away in days or weeks”, he said.Trump and US officials have rejected arguments that the tariffs would reignite inflation and damage the US economy.Peter Navarro, Trump’s tariff guru, shrugged off investor panic.”You can’t lose money unless you sell,” he said, promising “the biggest boom in the stock market we’ve ever seen”.