Asian stocks tumble as Trump's big reveal on tariffs nears

STORY: Asian stocks tumbled Monday morning as investors braced for Donald Trump’s big reveal on tariffs. Japan’s Nikkei index dropped over 3.5% in early trade. Among the big fallers were major exporters like chip gear makers Advantest and Tokyo Electron - both down around 6% early on. It was a similar story in South Korea, where the benchmark Kospi index was down over 2%. But falls in Hong Kong and Shanghai were more muted, with declines of less than 1%. Trump has promised to unveil his big move on tariffs on April 2 - what he calls “Liberation Day”.“And it'll bring, it'll bring in billions of dollars. Billions and billions. And it'll bring in, maybe more importantly, jobs. It'll protect the jobs we have.”The U.S. president has vowed to impose reciprocal duties on countries around the world. But much remains unknown about what form the levies will take, and just how high they will be set. On Friday, Trump had said he was open to carving out deals with countries seeking to avoid tariffs. But on Sunday he said the levies would essentially hit all countries, stoking the jitters that sparked Monday’s stock selloff. Investors are also anxious about the state of the U.S. economy, with recent data showing rising inflation and weak consumer spending. JPMorgan now says there is a 40% chance of a recession in the country. All the worries have seen money flow into perceived safe havens. Monday saw gains for government bonds, while gold hit new record highs above $3,000 per ounce.

STORY: Asian stocks tumbled Monday morning as investors braced for Donald Trump’s big reveal on tariffs. Japan’s Nikkei index dropped over 3.5% in early trade.

Among the big fallers were major exporters like chip gear makers Advantest and Tokyo Electron - both down around 6% early on. It was a similar story in South Korea, where the benchmark Kospi index was down over 2%. But falls in Hong Kong and Shanghai were more muted, with declines of less than 1%.

Trump has promised to unveil his big move on tariffs on April 2 - what he calls “Liberation Day”.“And it'll bring, it'll bring in billions of dollars. Billions and billions.

And it'll bring in, maybe more importantly, jobs. It'll protect the jobs we have.”The U.

S. president has vowed to impose reciprocal duties on countries around the world. But much remains unknown about what form the levies will take, and just how high they will be set.

On Friday, Trump had said he was open to carving out deals with countries seeking to avoid tariffs. But on Sunday he said the levies would essentially hit all countries, stoking the jitters that sparked Monday’s stock selloff. Investors are also anxious about the state of the U.

S. economy, with recent data showing rising inflation and weak consumer spending. JPMorgan now says there is a 40% chance of a recession in the country.

All the worries have seen money flow into perceived safe havens. Monday saw gains for government bonds, while gold hit new record highs above $3,000 per ounce..