It’s the fourth day after US President Donald Trump’s announcement of retaliatory tariffs on April 2nd, the so-called “Liberation day.” Stock markets across the world are tanking in what seems to be clear anticipation of an extended international trade war.

Trump Slaps 10% Tariffs on All Countries

As CryptoPotato reported on April 2nd, Donald Trump’s tariffs were imposed on literally all countries at a rate of 10%, with some of them facing even higher rates.

China faces 34%, Vietnam – 46%, Japan – 24%, while the European Union was hit with 20% tariffs. Describing these as “reciprocal,” Trump has stated that the new taxes are needed to wipe out an existing deficit between the US and the rest of the world.

What is more, imports will also be facing both the universal tariff of 10%, including the specific reciprocal import levies targeting each individual nation.

International response was just as quick, with China announcing import taxes of 34% themselves, while also curbing exports of critical minerals and blacklisting American companies, while altogether saying that the actions of the US President are a form of “bullying,” as well as a violation of international trade rules.

Tension between the US and other countries is also escalating, although many of them have chosen not to retaliate in hopes of negotiating better deals. Maroš Šefčovič, the trade commissioner for the European Union confirmed a “frank” exchange with US representatives, saying:

“The EU is committed to meaningful negotiations, but also prepared to defend our interests. […] We stay in touch.”

Global Markets Plunge, Tech Giants Take a Beating

The stock market’s reaction came immediately, as major indices took a beating on April 2nd, which worsened as the week went by.

Ultimately, on Thursday and Friday alone, the stock markets saw over $5 trillion in market cap erased, closing the worst week since the COVID crash.

The S&P 500, for instance, lost over 6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdq 100 “ended in a bear market,” as reported by the Business Insider. 

As seen in the chart, no sector was spared and tech giants such as Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA), and so forth, all charting massive losses.

Bitcoin Hangs on, Defies Expectations

For most parts during the past few months, turmoil across traditional stock markets also reflected in Bitcoin’s price, which was moving more or less hand in hand.

This seems to have changed, at least for the past seven days. Amid the massive drawdown, Bitcoin has remained steady, charting a mild decrease of 0.3% for the past seven days, according to data from CoinGecko.

As CryptoPotato reported earlier, many industry experts noted the detachment of the BTC price from traditional assets, with some of them even stating that it might be on the verge of noting gains in the coming weeks.

“BTC positive divergence from gold and risk in past 24 hours is striking. Haven’t seen it to this extent in a long time,” wrote MacroScope.