The American scholarship has just experienced a financial earthquake. In a few hours, $ 3,400 billion evaporated, suddenly eraser the post-electoral gains. A disaster scenario that plunges Wall Street into an unprecedented torpor. And in the viewfinder? Donald Trump, whose new customs taxes have lit the wick of a crisis with global repercussions.
Wall Street in troubled waters: the domino effect of Trump taxes
The S&P 500 has unscrewed by 2 % from the opening, swept away like a card castle the 3,400 billion garnered since the 2024 election.
The indices flash with blood red on the stock market: the Russell 2000, a barometer of local businesses, has collapsed by 14 % since November. Even tech giants, which are used to turbulence, vacillate. Nvidia lost 24 %, Tesla crashes 45 %. Has the speculative bubble finally broke out?
Worse, the markets are now anticipating three Fed rate drops this year, against two previously.
Investors, panicked, flee to the refuge values: gold, state obligations … and even bitcoin, paradoxically in rebound.
Distrust is palpable. “No one thought Trump would go to the end,” whispers a New York trader. Error. Taxes on Canada and Mexico have transformed euphoria into a mouth of financial wood.
But the nightmare does not stop at the figures. Inflation threatens, industrial production stagnates. The cyclical sectors, such as automotive or energy, are laminated. Only public services and health are resisting. A redistribution of cards which reveals a weakened American economy, far from the promised “America First”.
Trade war 2.0
China was quick to reply. Beijing now imposes customs duties on soybeans, pork, beef and American wheat. A targeted attack, directly targeting the rural electoral bastions of Trump. Soy, symbol of past tensions, drops to 9.91 dollars per bushel, its lowest since January. The corn follows, tumbling by 3 %. “China has diversified its supplies. She no longer needs US farmers, ”analyzes Hanver Li, by Shanghai JC Intelligence.
American farmers, already strangled by three years of declining income, fear the worst. The costs of seeds and fertilizers are soaring, exports to Asia dry up.
In 2020, Trump had saved the sector with emergency aid. Today, Brooke Rollins, Secretary of Agriculture, promises $ 30 billion in subsidies. A dressing on a wooden leg, according to Dan Basse d'Agresource : “Without a new trade agreement, these measures are only a lure. »»
What about Canada? Ottawa counterattacks by taxing 107 billion US products, from cheese to candy. Mexico is preparing its answer. Result: the American agricultural trade deficit reaches a record of 49 billion. An infernal spiral, where each protectionist measure aggravates the imbalances. “This could trigger a much wider economic conflict,” warns Kang Wei Cheang by Stonex.
The scholarship sails in unknown territory. Between Krach Lightning and Trade War, the 3,400 billion evaporated are perhaps only a taste. Trump, cornered, plays his all-while on an aggressive policy. But at what price? The markets have already chosen: they vote with their portfolios. And for the moment, the verdict is final. The panic on bitcoin reaches a critical threshold.
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