At 9:42 on a Thursday morning in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index had already lost 11.4% of its value — a figure that encapsulates just how severely investors have reacted to the latest trade offensive from Washington. President Donald Trump announced a new round of tariffs ranging from 10% to 12.5% on more than 80 countries simultaneously, covering trading partners as geographically and economically diverse as the United Kingdom, India, Canada, Australia, China, and all 27 members of the European Union.

The damage spread unevenly but unmistakably across the region. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 3.1%, China's SSE Composite shed 1.4%, and South Korea's Kospi — where semiconductor giants dominate the index — dropped a sharp 6.

2%. The new levies are understood to be structured under Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974, a provision historically deployed against countries accused of engaging in forced labour practices. They effectively replace the blanket 10% tariff that Trump introduced in February, itself a response to a Supreme Court ruling that struck down several of his earlier measures as unlawful. In Paris, Bank of France governor Emmanuel Moulin acknowledged that the EU's existing Turnberry Agreement — brokered at Trump's Scottish golf resort in 2025 — should insulate Europe from the sharpest effects.

However, he was careful not to offer reassurance beyond that narrow point, warning that the broader global trading environment would inevitably suffer. Energy markets have added a second layer of anxiety to an already fragile week. Brent crude slipped back below $100 a barrel on Friday morning, falling roughly 0.9% to $99.

8, yet it remains more than 10% higher than where it stood seven days ago.