When a country (USA) is losing many billions of do
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On Thursday, Trump confirmed new 25% taxes on imported steel and 10% on imported aluminum would be announced next week, sending the Dow down almost 600 points at its lowest levels.
Japan's Nikkei closed down 2.5% Friday, and Germany's DAX was down 1.96% at the time of writing.
The news also raised the spectre of a trade war, in which the US and other countries increase protectionist measures back and forth. Economists say such a fight would ultimately increase prices for US consumers and possibly lead to a broad economic slowdown.
"Extremely concerning stance," Paul Mortimer-Lee, chief US economist for BNP Paribas, said in response to Trump's tweet. "History suggests trade wars lead to everyone losing."
Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, echoed BNP's concerns.
"The net effect of the tariffs will be economic damage, higher inflation, and greater geopolitical uncertainty," he said in an email. "On the corporate side, it will be lower profits for the vast majority of companies. On the consumer side, it will be higher prices for many goods and, likely, lost jobs in export industries. That is why this issue is worth watching closely."