Ata mārie and TGIF. We’re at the end of another busy week after ‘Liberation Day’ in the United States.
As NBR has been reporting over the past 24 hours, US President Donald Trump’s global reciprocal trade tariffs have upset sharemarkets, currencies, and world leaders.
Multiple media outlets are covering events as they unfold, especially on Wall Street, after sharp falls in trading for key companies.
The BBC reported corporate giants, such as Nike, Apple and Amazon, fell into the red, but the White House told Wall Street to "trust in President Trump". In Canada, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced 25% tariffs on some US vehicles, while the UK has drafted a 400-page list of US products it could hit with tariffs.
In Europe, markets were down across the board on Thursday local time after a sharp sell-off across Asia, the Guardian reported. In London, the FTSE 100 fell 1.5%, Germany’s Dax was down 2.3%, and France’s CAC dropped 2.5%.
The Guardian’s senior economics correspondent Richard Partington summarised that the method used to calculate the tariffs had left some of the world’s experts in shock.
“[It is] quite an extraordinary calculation after months of work behind the scenes. “[It] didn’t add much confidence on there being an in-depth strategic implementation plan,” Deutsche Bank global head of macro research Jim Reid said.
US President Donald Trump.
In other international news, TikTok owner ByteDance could be hit with a privacy fine of more than €500 million for illegally sending European user data to China, Bloomberg reported.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission planned to issue the penalty before the end of this month, according to sources. It followed an investigation that found the Chinese company fell short of European Union data protection regulation. The exact size of the fine and the timing of the decision could change, Bloomberg noted.
Elsewhere, Myanmar's earthquake has killed more than 3000 people, with forecasts of unseasonal rain posing a challenge for aid workers, the ABC reported.
Last week’s 7.7-magnitude quake flattened large parts of Myanmar's two largest cities. The death toll rose to 3085 this week, with 4715 injured, and 341 missing.
Unseasonal rain from Sunday to April 11 was forecast for quake-hit areas, including Mandalay, Sagaing, and Naypyidaw. International aid groups said food, water, and medicine was still needed, with concerns about the spread of disease, the ABC said.
Hungary’s government has announced its exit from the International Criminal Court, just before Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, Al Jazeera reported.
“The government will initiate the withdrawal procedure on Thursday, in accordance with the constitutional and international legal framework,” Orban’s chief of staff Gergely Gulyas posted on social media.
Orban said Hungary was withdrawing because the ICC had become too politicised. The governing body of the ICC noted concern over Hungary’s decision.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Finally, from the bizarre food files … fast food chain Subway is adding nachos to its menu. The company announced a partnership with Doritos in the US to sell footlong nachos for US$5, CNN reported.
Subway said the new dish was “freshly prepared” using nacho cheese-flavoured Doritos. The company had been expanding its ‘Sidekick menu’ since last year. Most recently, the chain added a 12-inch slab of chocolate cookie dough sprinkled with Oreos and cream.
