CNBC Daily Open: The trade wars begin

U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and subsequent actions by other nations have cast a shadow over investors’ portfolios. Markets largely fell all around the world following the announcements, and the sell-off has extended into Monday. 

Trump and his administration has been defiant, with the U.S. president saying “it won’t be easy” and urging Americans to “hang tough” in a Truth Social post late Friday. 

Over the weekend, the European Union was reported to also be readying tariffs, targeting up to $28 billion of U.S. imports, marking the latest escalation in this conflict. China and Canada had also announced retaliatory measures last week. 

With such market losses, a predicted rise in consumer prices, and an increased risk of a recession from tariffs, it is admittedly hard to see what “victory” looks like for Trump who said in 2018 that “trade wars are good, and easy to win!“

— Lim Hui Jie

Markets set to extend losses
U.S. stock futures dropped on Sunday evening, portending a third day of losses after a two-day historic stock market rout. Dow Jones Industrial average futures fell 1,531 points, or 4% Sunday evening, pointing to another brutal session ahead on Monday. S&P 500 futures shed 4%. Nasdaq-100 futures lost 4%. On Friday, the Dow and S&P 500 saw their worst losses since 2020, while the Nasdaq Composite entered a bear market after recording a 6% loss. 

Crypto joins market rout
Bitcoin fell below the $79,000 level Sunday as investors braced for more financial market volatility. The cryptocurrency is down 15% in 2025 and, absent a crypto-specific catalyst, is expected to continue moving in tandem with equities as global recession fears overshadow any regulatory tailwinds crypto was expected to benefit from this year.

‘Tariffs are coming’: Commerce Secretary Lutnick
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the White House will not postpone the April 9 start date for reciprocal tariffs. Speaking to CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday, Lutnick said, “they are definitely going to stay in place for days and weeks,” adding “the president needs to reset global trade. Everybody has a trade surplus and we have a trade deficit.” 

Bessent dismisses recession fears 
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday dismissed concerns Americans might be having about a potential impending recession and the status of their retirement plans, saying that President Donald Trump and his administration are “building the long-term economic fundamentals for prosperity.” Speaking to NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Bessent called it a “false narrative” that Americans who are close to retiring may be reticent to do so after their retirement savings may have dropped this week due to the stock market downturn. “In fact, most Americans don’t have everything in the market,” Bessent added.

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Berkshire Hathaway weathers market rout
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway fared better than the S&P 500 in a brutal week as investors embraced the safety of a cash-rich conglomerate, seeing softer losses compared to the broad market index. Domestically-oriented Berkshire, which also owns large manufacturing, energy and retail businesses, is still up about 8% this year.

China says ‘market has spoken’ after Trump tariffs spark global stocks rout

China’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday said “the market has spoken” following the U.S. imposition of sweeping new tariffs and called for the White House to defuse the escalating trade war through “equal-footed consultation.”

This comes as U.S. markets fell sharply for a second consecutive day on Friday, with all three major indexes dropping by more than 5% as part of a global rout.

The market turmoil was exacerbated on Friday when China’s Finance Ministry announced it would impose a 34% tariff on all goods imported from the U.S. starting on April 10.