Trump says no pause on tariffs after rollercoaster day on Wall Street ends with most US markets down
Donald Trump has ruled out pausing the sweeping tariffs he has imposed on countries across the world after a rollercoaster day on Wall Street that ended with most of the US markets down.
Intense swings were seen on the three main stock market indexes on Monday as economists fear the US president’s “Liberation Day” levies could cause a global recession.
The S&P 500 closed the day 0.23% lower, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.91%, and the Nasdaq ended in positive territory, up 0.10%.
A screen shows trading of the S&P 500 Index after the closing bell. Pic: Reuters
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All three indexes started the day sharply lower, and the Dow plunged as many as 1,700 points following even worse losses elsewhere in the world.
But it suddenly surged to a gain of nearly 900 points in the late morning. The S&P 500, meanwhile, went from a loss of 4.7% to a leap of 3.4%, which would have been its biggest jump in years.
The sudden rise appears to have been the result of a social media post that incorrectly claimed that Kevin Hassett, White House National Economic Council director, said Mr Trump was considering a 90-day pause in tariffs for all countries except China.
Reports first emerged through the US business news channel CNBC.
The White House later told CNBC any talk of a 90-day pause was “fake news”.
A trader on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange. Pic: AP
Financial pain hammers investments around the world
The financial pain once again hammered investments around the world, with stocks in Hong Kong plunging 13.2% for their worst day since 1997.
Meanwhile, the UK’s benchmark stock index, the FTSE 100, closed 4.38% down.
It is one of the biggest drops in years, in line with the falls seen in the early days of COVID-19 lockdowns, but less steep than the 4.95% loss seen on Friday.
Only a handful of the 100 most valuable companies listed on the London Stock Exchange saw any boost to their share price all day.
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Trump ‘not looking’ at pausing tariffs
When asked in the Oval Office on Monday evening whether he would pause tariffs, Mr Trump said: “We’re not looking at that.”
The president added that affected countries have been negotiating with his administration, which he said will try and make “fair deals” with each of them.
“We’re going to get fair deals with every country and if we don’t they are not going to be able to participate with the US,” he added.
Mr Trump also claimed the US “has been ripped off by many countries over the years”, adding: “We can’t do it anymore. We can’t be the stupid people anymore.”
Analysis: Tariffs could herald one of the most painful episodes in modern times
Donald Trump is seen on the television as traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange. Pic: AP
Trump threatens additional 50% tariff on China
It came after the US president threatened in a post on his Truth Social platform that he would impose an additional 50% tariff on China if the nation does not withdraw its 34% retaliatory tariff.
Beijing imposed the duty after Mr Trump announced his tariff on China last week.
The US president added in his Truth Social post that Beijing has until Tuesday to remove its retaliatory tariff.
Some investors are holding onto hope that Mr Trump may still lower his tariffs after negotiating with countries, and Mr Trump said on Sunday that he has heard from leaders “dying to make a deal”.
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Trump’s tariffs: What you need to know
‘Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something’
A drop in tariffs relatively soon could help avoid a recession, but whether that can happen is still uncertain.
On Sunday, Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he does not want markets to fall. But he also said he was not concerned about a sell-off, saying “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something”.
Mr Trump has given several reasons for his stiff tariffs, including to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, which is a process that could take years.
The US president has said he wanted to bring down the numbers for how much more the United States imports from other countries versus how much it sends to them.
A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange. Pic: Reuters
“The recent tariffs will likely increase inflation and are causing many to consider a greater probability of a recession,” JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon wrote in his annual letter to shareholders on Monday.
“Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth”, added Mr Dimon, who is one of the most influential executives on Wall Street.
US
California: 21 children taken into custody – amid claims couple misled surrogate mothers across the US
Police have taken 21 children into custody, amid allegations that a couple in Los Angeles may have misled surrogate mothers across the US.
Silvia Zhang, 38, and Guojun Xuan, 65, are believed to be the legal parents of the children, who are aged between two months and 13 years old.
“We believe one or two were born biologically to the mother,” Lieutenant Kollin Cieadlo said. “There are some surrogates who have come forward and said they were surrogates for the children.”
“The couple told police that they wanted a large family,” he added.
The home of Silva Zhang and Guojun Xuan, northeast of downtown Los Angeles
Fifteen children were removed from the couple’s home in Arcadia, about 13 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, after an abuse allegation was made. Another six living in the care of family and friends were also located.
The couple were arrested in May after a hospital reported that their two-month-old infant had a traumatic head injury – with a nanny accused of violently shaking the baby.
The infant was not taken to hospital until two days later, after they began suffering seizures.
CCTV footage recorded inside the home showed the children being emotionally and physically abused by at least six nannies.
The couple’s property had CCTV cameras, which police said recorded footage of abuse by nannies. Pic: AP
Lt Cieadlo said Zhang had produced what appeared to be legitimate birth certificates, including some from outside California, that list her as the mother of the children.
Business records show a company called Mark Surrogacy Investment LLC was previously registered at the couple’s address, although the most recent documents show the business licence ended in June.
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Police said they are investigating whether the children found at the home in the San Gabriel Valley were part of a surrogacy scam.
Lt Cieadlo also confirmed officers were working with the FBI as part of their investigation.
Kayla Elliott, one of the surrogate mothers who has come forward, told Sky’s US partner NBC News: “I was a bit hysterical. You just don’t expect that you’re going to go through a pregnancy and a delivery and then hand the baby over to their parents and then all of a sudden find out that there was abuse and neglect going on.”
Arrest warrants were issued for Zhang, Xuan and the 56-year-old nanny, who was not in custody on Wednesday. Zhang and Xuan were detained on suspicion of child endangerment/neglect.
The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, which removed the couple’s children, declined to comment on the case.
Disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell could use “government misconduct” to challenge her imprisonment, her family has claimed.
The 63-year-old, who was jailed in 2022 for luring young girls to massage rooms for Jeffrey Epstein to abuse, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.
Maxwell’s family have frequently claimed she “did not receive a fair trial”, but legal appeals against her sex trafficking convictions have been rejected by the courts.
The latest challenge from the Maxwell family comes as President Donald Trump faces questions over whether or not he will order the release of the so-called Epstein “client list”, following a backlash from Republican loyalists who have called for any list to be made public.
Ghislaine Maxwell. Pic: US Department of Justice
Judges previously dismissed arguments from Maxwell’s lawyers that she “should never have been prosecuted” because of a “weird” agreement drafted more than 15 years ago.
The family argue that Maxwell should have been protected under an agreement Epstein had entered with the US Department of Justice in 2007, which agreed not to prosecute any of his co-conspirators.
During her trial in 2021, Maxwell was described as “dangerous” by prosecutors, who told jurors about how she would entice vulnerable girls to go to Epstein’s properties for him to sexually abuse.
In a statement, her family said: “Our sister Ghislaine did not receive a fair trial.
“Her legal team continues to fight her case in the courts and will file its reply in short order to the government’s opposition in the US Supreme Court.”
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David Oscar Markus, one of her lawyers, said in the statement released by her family: “I’d be surprised if President Trump knew his lawyers were asking the Supreme Court to let the government break a deal.
“He’s the ultimate dealmaker and I’m sure he’d agree that when the United States gives its word, it should keep it.
“With all the talk about who’s being prosecuted and who isn’t, it’s especially unfair that Ghislaine Maxwell remains in prison based on a promise the US government made and broke.’
“These are sentiments with which we profoundly concur.”
Epstein, 66, was found dead in his cell at a Manhattan federal jail in August 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.
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