Asian and European equities collapsed on a black Monday for markets after China hammered the United States with its own hefty tariffs, ramping up a trade war many fear could spark a recession.Trading floors were overcome by a wave of selling as investors fled to the hills, with Hong Kong’s loss of 13.22 percent its worst in nearly three decades. Taipei socks suffered their worst fall on record, tanking 9.7 percent, while Frankfurt dived 10 percent and Tokyo shed almost eight percent.Futures for Wall Street’s markets were also taking another drubbing, while commodities slumped.US President Donald Trump sparked a market meltdown last week when he unveiled sweeping tariffs against US trading partners for what he said was years of being ripped off and claimed that governments were lining up to cut deals with Washington.But after Asian markets closed on Friday, China said it would impose retaliatory levies of 34 percent on all US goods from April 10. Beijing also imposed export controls on seven rare earth elements, including gadolinium — commonly used in MRIs — and yttrium, utilised in consumer electronics.On Sunday, vice commerce minister Ling Ji told representatives of US firms that Trump’s tariffs “firmly protect the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises, including American companies”.Hopes that the US president would rethink his policy in light of the turmoil were dashed Sunday when he said he would not make a deal with other countries unless trade deficits were solved.”Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” he said of the ructions that have wiped trillions of dollars off company valuations.- No sector spared -The savage selling in Asia was across the board, with no sector unharmed — tech firms, car makers, banks, casinos and energy firms all felt the pain as investors abandoned riskier assets.Among the biggest losers, Chinese ecommerce titans Alibaba tanked 18 percent and rival JD.com shed 15.5 percent, while Japanese tech investment giant SoftBank dived more than 12 percent and Sony gave up 10 percent.Hong Kong’s 13-percent drop marked its worst day since 1997 during the Asian financial crisis — while Frankfurt plunged 10 percent at one point.Shanghai shed more than seven percent, with China’s state-backed fund Central Huijin Investment vowing to help ensure “stable operations” of the market.Singapore plunged nearly eight percent, while Seoul gave up more than five percent, triggering a so-called sidecar mechanism — for the first time in eight months — that briefly halted some trading. Sydney, Wellington, Manila and Mumbai were also deep in the red, while London and Paris both dropped around five percent. “We could see a recession happen very quickly in the US, and it could last through the year or so, it could be rather lengthy,” said Steve Cochrane, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Moody’s Analytics. “If there’s a recession in the US, of course, China will feel it as well because demand for its goods will be hit even harder,” he added.Concerns about demand saw oil prices sink more than three percent at one point Monday, having dropped around seven percent Friday. Both main contracts are now sitting at their lowest levels since 2021. Copper — a vital component for energy storage, electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines — also extended losses.- Carnage on Wall Street -The losses followed another day of carnage on Wall Street on Friday, where all three main indexes fell almost six percent.”Over Thursday and Friday, the S&P 500 fell by a massive 10.53 percent in total, making it the fifth-worst two-day performance since World War Two,” said analysts at Deutsche Bank.”Indeed, the only other times we’ve seen a double-digit loss over two sessions were during Covid-19, the height of the (global financial crisis), and Black Monday 1987.”That showing came after Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell said US tariffs will likely cause inflation to rise and growth to slow, and warned of an “elevated” risk of higher unemployment.”Powell’s hands are tied,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management. “He’s acknowledged the obvious — that tariffs are inflationary and recessionary — but he’s not signalling a rescue.” While Powell has so far refused to announce any rate cuts, markets are betting he will do soon.- Key figures around 0815 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 7.8 percent at 31,136.58 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 13.2 percent at 19,828.30 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 7.3 percent at 3,096.58 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 4.6 percent at 7,686.66West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 4.1 percent at $59.41 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 4.0 percent at $62.99 per barrelDollar/yen: DOWN at 145.80 yen from 146.98 yen on FridayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.1019 from $1.0962Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2911 from $1.2893Euro/pound: UP at 85.36 pence from 85.01 penceNew York – Dow: DOWN 5.5 percent at 38,314.86 (close) 

World markets crashed on Monday with Asia leading the rout, as US President Donald Trump held firm on his swingeing tariffs despite China retaliating and global recession warnings growing louder.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng plunged more than 13 percent, its biggest drop since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, while in Japan the Nikkei 225 index fell an eye-watering 7.8 percent. Countries mostly have been scrambling to blunt the new US tariffs without retaliating, but Beijing is responding in kind, escalating the trade war between the two biggest economies.Beijing’s new 34-percent tariffs announced on Friday “are aimed at bringing the United States back onto the right track of the multilateral trade system,” vice commerce minister Ling Ji said.”The root cause of the tariff issue lies in the United States,” Ling told representatives of US companies on Sunday, according to his ministry.Trump on Sunday doubled down on his demand to slash deficits with trading partners, saying he would not cut any deals unless that was resolved.”Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” Trump said on Sunday.He told reporters aboard Air Force One that world leaders are “dying to make a deal”.Trillions of dollars have been wiped off stocks worldwide, and on Monday Asian equities took an even heavier hammering as investors moved to safer assets.In Europe, Frankfurt’s DAX sank a massive 10 percent with Paris diving more than six percent and London sliding nearly six percent.US oil dropped below $60 a barrel for the first time since April 2021 on worries of a global recession.”(This) is blunt-force economic warfare,” said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.”The market’s telling you in plain language: global demand is vanishing, and a global recession is on the cards and coming on fast,” Innes said.- ‘Deals and alliances’ -Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel — which has been hit with 17 percent tariffs, despite being one of Washington’s closest allies — was due Monday to become the first leader to meet Trump since last week’s announcement.Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned in a newspaper op-ed that “the world as we knew it has gone,” saying the status quo would increasingly hinge on “deals and alliances.”Trump’s staggered deadlines have left space for some countries to negotiate, even as he insisted he would stand firm and his administration warned against any retaliation.”More than 50 countries have reached out to the president to begin a negotiation,” Kevin Hassett, head of the White House National Economic Council, told ABC’s This Week on Sunday, citing the US Trade Representative.Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse that counted the US as its biggest export market in the first quarter, has already reached out and requested a delay of at least 45 days to thumping 46 percent tariffs imposed by Trump.- ‘Bad actors’ -Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also told NBC’s Meet the Press that 50 countries had reached out.But as for whether Trump will negotiate with them, “I think that’s a decision for President Trump,” Bessent said. “At this moment he’s created maximum leverage for himself… I think we’re going to have to see what the countries offer, and whether it’s believable,” Bessent said. Other countries have been “bad actors for a long time, and it’s not the kind of thing you can negotiate away in days or weeks,” he claimed.Peter Navarro, Trump’s tariff guru, has pushed back against the mounting nervousness and insisted to investors that “you can’t lose money unless you sell,” promising “the biggest boom in the stock market we’ve ever seen.”Russia has not been targeted by the latest raft of tariffs, and Hassett cited talks with Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine as the reason for their omission from the hit list.On Wednesday a White House official suggested the reason for Russia’s omission was because trade was negligible thanks to sanctions.Trump has long insisted that countries around the world that sell products to the United States are in fact ripping Americans off, and he sees tariffs as a means to right that wrong.”Some day people will realize that Tariffs, for the United States of America, are a very beautiful thing!” Trump wrote on Truth social Sunday.But many economists have warned that tariffs are passed on to US consumers and that they could see price rises at home.”I don’t think that you’re going to see a big effect on the consumer in the US,” Hassett said.