Markets Spooked by Trump Tariff Announcement

Created on March 27, 2025

President Trump yesterday ordered the implementation of a new 25% tariff on the import of any vehicle not manufactured in the USA, sending stock markets lower, especially US indices.

1. The focus is back on US President Trump’s tariff plan as the deadline of 2^nd April approaches, and last night Trump announced the imposition of a new 25% tariff on all automobiles, which will hit Canada hard. This sent US equity indices lower, and the new Canadian Prime Minister Carney announced the government is considering imposing retaliatory tariffs against the USA. President Trump tried to soften the blow and calm markets by adding that people will be “pleasantly surprised” when they see what he is ordering on 2^nd April.

2. Gold remains in focus after it continued to rise over into record blue-sky territory last week, trading at a new all-time high above $3,050 and threatening to reach even higher prices. However, the price has made a bearish retracement and is now about one day’s average range off the high. Trend traders will still be bullish on Gold.

3. US Copper futures gained strongly yesterday to reach a new record high but then sold off after President Trump spoke, printing a potentially bearish pin bar on the daily chart by the end of day. There is plenty of demand for this industrial metal which is widely used in AI applications, so it could be a good trade or investment on the long side. Copper micro futures are relatively cheap, with a position size of about $10,000. For smaller amounts, retail investors can look for spot Copper CFDs or ETF (CPER) alternatives to participate. Trend traders will probably still want to be long here.

4. In the Forex market, since Tokyo opened today, the strongest major currency is the Australian Dollar, while the weakest is the Swiss Franc, which is a classic risk on trade although most traders prefer to use the AUD/JPY currency cross to exploit this kind of momentum.

5. There will be two high-impact data releases today:

   1. US Final GDP which is expected to showe an annualized increase of 2.3%

   2. US Unemployment Claims data.