Equity markets suffered a bloodbath Thursday after Donald Trump delivered a "haymaker" blow with sweeping tariffs against US partners and rivals, fanning a global trade war that many fear will spark recessions and ramp up inflation.

Tokyo's Nikkei led an Asian selloff, collapsing more than four percent, while US futures plunged, safe haven gold hit a record high and the yen jumped one percent amid worries that retaliation will send the crisis spiralling.

The panic came after the US president on his so-called Liberation Day unveiled a blitz of levies aimed at correcting trade deficits with other countries following what he says has been years of the United States being "ripped off".

Against a White House backdrop of US flags, Trump announced that "for decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike".

Trump reserved some of the heaviest blows for what he called the "nations that treat us badly," including 34 percent in new levies on rival China, 20 percent on key ally the European Union and 24 percent on Japan.

A number of other countries will face specifically tailored tariff levels, and for the rest, Trump said he would impose a "baseline" tariff of 10 percent. Auto tariffs of 25 percent kicked in on Thursday.

Investors........

© International Business Times