Here’s The Full List Of Trump's Reciprocal Tariffs Announced Wednesday
Trump's tariffs were far more extensive than any market participant or economist had anticipated, making a panic inevitable. I was watching futures and packing for my Asia trip while listening to his speech. The market initially rallied 2% when Trump announced a blanket 10% world tariff—lower than expected. But when he unveiled the poster showing Reciprocal Tariffs, everything changed. As the implications became clear, futures plummeted. In just minutes, Trump had upended the global economic order of the past 35 years, though no one fully grasped it at that moment.
Following his Liberation Day Speech in the Rose Garden on April 2nd, stocks and nearly every other dollar-denominated asset entered a deleveraging panic. From peak to trough, over just three trading sessions, the Nasdaq fell nearly 16% between April 2nd and the pre-market lows on Monday April 7th—down over 25% from the all-time highs set just months earlier.
Bonds and yields ultimately drove the panic. Initially, yields fell along with every other asset in a broad deleveraging. From April 2nd to April 7th's low, 10-year yields dropped nearly 8%. Many believed this aligned with Trump and Bessent's strategy to trigger a recession and lower U.S. borrowing costs through falling rates. But then something broke. In the three days following Liberation Day and the initial panic, bonds reversed course—selling off as yields began rising. Meanwhile, the dollar kept weakening. This "emerging market" style trading pattern—where stocks, bonds, and currency all depreciate simultaneously—signaled a complete loss of confidence. While this behavior is typical in emerging market defaults like Greece or Argentina, it's virtually unheard of in the markets of the global reserve currency and hegemon, the United States. The situation reached its peak on Tuesday night, April 8th, when the 10-year yield briefly exceeded 4.5%—up dramatically from 3.85% less than 48 hours earlier. This historic move caught the White House's attention and ultimately led Trump to announce a 90-day pause on all tariffs except those on China.
Finally, the VIX. Fear and volatility began skyrocketing post liberation day and peaked Monday morning right at a 60 handle. Extreme volatility.