Trump's planned levies will be negative for all, said European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde.
“It will be negative the world over and the density and the durability of the impact will vary depending on the scope, on the products targeted, on how long it lasts, on whether there are negotiations,” she said in an interview on Ireland's Newstalk radio.
As a nervous world awaited details of the tariff plans, stocks retreated on Wednesday, while safe-haven gold held near record highs.
“I can't recall a situation where the stakes were this high and yet the outcome was so unpredictable,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers. “The devil is going to be in the details and nobody knows the details.”
Across sectors, from cars to ocean freight shipping, luxury goods and beyond, business leaders waited to see what would hit them, all the more so as Trump has invoked emergency powers to swiftly add, and occasionally retract and reinstate, tariffs.
“You cannot make important decisions on your supply chain when the rules of the game keep changing,” said Peter Sand, chief analyst at freight pricing platform Xeneta.