Trump's tariffs spark recession fears, shake markets: experts

U.S. President Donald Trump's rollout of a colossal set of tariffs on America's trading partners is poised to drag the country into recession, trigger a global downward spiral, and send shock waves through markets, warned experts.

Trump's 25 percent tariffs on imported vehicles took effect on Thursday, widening the global trade war he reignited upon returning to the White House in January.

Speaking with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Joseph Williams, former senior editor of U.S. News and World Report, warned of higher inflation, possible job losses, and the growing risk of a U.S. and global recession.

"I certainly think prices are going to increase in the United States. There's going to be rising voter anger -- probably a recession could be triggered -- that will ripple around the world, because production around the world will decrease as American consumption decreases. So I think it's going to drive everybody into a race towards the bottom. We will be looking at five percent or more unemployment in the United States. We'll be looking at, probably, a mild recession heading into a deeper recession, if one has now already occurred," he said.

U.S. stocks have continued to decline sharply following the unveiling of Trump's sweeping tariff package.

The once high-flying Nasdaq Composite Index plunged into a bear market on Friday, as the U.S. stock market sank for a second consecutive day amid growing concerns over international retaliation sparked by the "reciprocal tariffs" imposed this week by the Trump administration.

Along with the Nasdaq, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard and Poor's 500 also suffered losses of over five percent on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 2,231.07 points, or 5.50 percent, to 38,314.86. The Standard and Poor's 500 dropped 322.44 points, or 5.97 percent, to 5,074.08.

In a separate interview with CGTN, Michael Collins, CEO of WinCap Financial, said U.S. equities have been hit hardest so far by the crisis, and that only a full tariff reversal could spark a recovery.

"U.S. equities were the biggest fallout of this week's crisis. I think the biggest win that could happen would be a complete reversal of all the tariffs that were announced. I think that would be the only short-term win we could see that would cause equities to rally," he said.

Trump's tariffs spark recession fears, shake markets: experts

China and other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), pledged to enhance sustainable development cooperation at a Thursday conference in Tianjin, ahead of this year's SCO summit.

As the rotating chair for this year, China is to host the SCO summit in Tianjin this autumn. The China-SCO Conference on Industrial Cooperation for Sustainable Development is one of the activities organized during a promotion event from Wednesday to Friday. It aims to promote cooperation in fields like infrastructure, energy, mining and petrifaction.

Nearly 400 guests, including government officials and enterprises from SCO member states attended the opening session.

"In 2024, China's trade volume with SCO member states, observer states and dialogue partners reached a record high of 890 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for about 14.4 percent of China's total foreign trade volume, fully demonstrating the tremendous vitality and broad prospects of trade development within the region," said Ling Ji, vice minister of commerce and deputy China international trade representative, at the conference.

As China has extensive experience in promoting sustainable development, attendees from SCO member states expressed hope to strengthen cooperation with China across various sectors, said SCO Deputy Secretary General Sohail Khan.

"China plays a very, very important, significant role in sustainable development, as I said, so we are expecting that in the sustainable development context, all member states have lot to gain and learn from China on its achievements in various areas, like agricultural industries, energy, high tech, information technology, and robot AI," he said.

By the end of 2024, China's investment stocks in SCO member states, observer states and dialogue partners have exceeded 140 billion U.S. dollars, with the total value of contracts signed by Chinese enterprises in these countries exceeding one trillion U.S. dollars and the completed turnover surpassing 680 billion U.S. dollars.

In 2024, about 19,000 China-Europe freight train ran through the SCO region, marking a year-on-year increase of 10.7 percent and significantly promoting regional connectivity and economic development.

China, SCO member states pledge deeper sustainable development cooperation