Equities widened losses in Asia and Europe on Friday, extending a global rout inflicted by Donald Trump's tariff blitz that has inflamed a trade war and ramped up recession and inflation fears.

The US president's harsher-than-expected "Liberation Day" levies sent shockwaves through markets on Thursday, with Wall Street suffering its worst day since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic and the dollar tanking against major peers.

As stocks were falling off a cliff on Thursday, the 78-year-old Republican insisted they will "boom" as the economy recalibrates.

Trump says he wants to make the United States free from reliance on foreign manufacturers, in a massive economic reshaping that he likened to a medical procedure.

"It's what is expected," he said. "The patient was very sick. The economy had a lot of problems. It went through an operation. It's going to be a booming economy. It's going to be amazing."

And White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt warned on CNN: "The president made it clear yesterday this is not a negotiation."

Trump later said he would negotiate "as long as they are giving something that is good".

But fears are growing that governments will retaliate in kind, further harming........

© International Business Times