Key Points
- The new duties target America's rivals and allies alike, risking recession.
- Chinese goods were slapped with the biggest tariff hit of 104 per cent.
- Global market sell-off has resumed after brief respite over a potential pause on tariffs.
US President Donald Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs on dozens of countries took effect at 2.01pm (AEST).
They include 104 per cent duties on Chinese goods, deepening his global trade war even as he prepares for negotiations with some nations.
The customised rates for nearly 60 economies supersede baseline duties that took effect on Saturday.
New levels largely range from 11 percent to 50 percent, but will see China taking the biggest hit.
Trump's punishing tariffs have shaken a global trading order that has persisted for decades, raised fears of recession and driven worldwide stocks sharply downward.
The S&P 500 in the US has since Trump unveiled the tariffs a week ago, the deepest four-day loss since the benchmark's creation in the 1950s. The index is now nearing a bear market, defined as 20 per cent below its most recent high.
A sell-off across Asian markets resumed on Wednesday after a brief respite, with Japan's Nikkei down over 3 per cent and South Korea's won currency sliding to a more than 16-year low.
Trump says trade deals in the works
Trump has offered investors mixed signals about whether the tariffs will remain in the long term, describing them as "permanent" but also boasting that they are pressuring other leaders to ask for negotiations.
"We have a lot of countries coming in that want to make deals," he said at a White House event. He said at a later event that he expected China to pursue an agreement as well.
Trump's administration has scheduled talks with South Korea and Japan, two close allies and major trading partners, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is due to visit next week.
The deputy prime minister of Vietnam, the low-cost Asian manufacturing hub hit with some of the highest duties globally, is set to talk with Trump's treasury secretary Scott Bessent later on Wednesday.
The prospect of deals with other countries had pushed stock markets up earlier on Tuesday, but US stocks had ceded their gains by the end of the trading day.
China vows to fight
Trump nearly doubled duties on Chinese imports, which had been set at 54 per cent last week, in response to counter-tariffs that Beijing announced last week. China has vowed to fight what it views as blackmail.
Top Chinese brokerages have pledged to work together to help steady domestic share prices in response to the tariff-induced turmoil.
Economists have warned that US consumers are likely to face higher prices on everything from sneakers to wine as a result of the trade war.
The full effects of Wednesday's tariffs may not be felt for some time, as any goods already in transit as of midnight will be exempt from the new levies as long as they arrive in the US by 27 May.
Nearly three-quarters of Americans expect the prices of everyday items to rise in the next six months, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
Trump has said the tariffs are a response to barriers put on US goods that have stymied American businesses. He has also accused countries including Japan of devaluing their currencies to gain a trade advantage, something Tokyo denies.
Japan's finance minister said on Wednesday trade negotiations with Washington could include foreign exchange rates.
Trump has signalled he may not be finished on tariffs.
In remarks to Republican politicians, he said he would soon announce "major" tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, one of a handful of categories of goods that have been exempted from the new taxes.
