European stocks tank 6% at open as global tariff rout deepens
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Global Markets Plunge as Trump Threatens Further Tariffs on China
Above: A television broadcasts market news on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Monday, April 7, 2025. Image copyright: Michael Nagle/Contributor/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Spin
Pro-Trump narrative
Despite what the media and the liberal left suggest, President Trump's tariff policy is not madness but a careful calculation that is willing to trade short-term pain for long-term gain. Under the president's leadership, America will no longer be the world's whipping post. The U.S. will undergo an economic revolution that will bring jobs, businesses, and inward investment back into the country. Already, more than $5 trillion of internal investment has been announced — evidence that the president's plan is working.
Anti-Trump narrative
The president's massive and disproportionate tariffs are destroying confidence in the country as a trading partner, a place to invest, and a market to do business in. If America continues down this path, consumers will stop spending, business investment will dry up, and the U.S. will be staring down the barrel of a potentially ruinous recession with its international reputation in tatters. The president must call a reprieve on his levies and instead negotiate with partners and adversaries alike rather than wage an unwise trade war.