Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs crash markets and send world leaders scrambling to respond

Global markets plunged Thursday morning as investors digested the sheer breadth and depth of the massive new tariffs regime announced by U.S. President Donald Trump that rips up the global trading system and places new duties on both “friend and foe.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell by 2.8%, with carmaker Toyota falling by 5.2%. South Korea’s KOSPI was down by around 0.8%. India's markets performed better, with the NIFTY 50 index falling by just 0.3%.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark...