US stock markets decline as Trump announces retaliatory tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum

At the time of filing this report, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 356.78 points (0.85 per cent) to 41,554.93, while the S&P 500 declined marginally by 15.27 points (0.27 per cent) to 5,599.29.

The market reaction followed Trump's announcement of a 50 per cent tariff on steel and aluminum imports from Canada. In a social media post, the president stated that Ontario, Canada, had placed a 25 per cent tariff on electricity coming into the U.S., prompting his administration to impose an additional 25 per cent tariff, raising the total to 50 per cent, effective March 12.

Ajay Bagga, a banking and market expert, told ANI, "In an interconnected world, commodities may be produced in one geography, processed in another, and shaped into a final good in a third or fourth location. Any disruption in these supply chains could be severe, even pushing some regions toward degrowth and recession."

On Tuesday in a post on Truth Social the US President said, " Based on Ontario, Canada, placing a 25% Tariff on "Electricity" coming into the United States, I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to add an ADDITIONAL 25% Tariff, to 50%, on all STEEL and ALUMINUM COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. This will go into effect TOMORROW MORNING, March 12th. Also, Canada must immediately drop their Anti-American Farmer Tariff of 250% to 390% on various U.S. dairy products, which has long been considered outrageous."

On Monday, the U.S. stock markets had already witnessed heavy losses, with the Nasdaq index plunging 4 per cent and the S&P 500 dropping more than 2.7 per cent, leading to a global sell-off.

The new tariffs and market volatility indicate rising economic tensions between the U.S. and Canada, with investors closely watching further developments.

Indian stock markets on Tuesday witnessed a high volatile session and ended the day flat, witnessing a trend of buying at low by market participants.

At the end of trading, the BSE Sensex stood at 74,102.32, down 12.85 points or 0.02 per cent, the Nifty 50 at 22,497.90, up 37.60 points or 0.17 per cent.

Despite the shaky start, Nifty demonstrated resilience, erasing losses and trending higher throughout the session.

Major gainers on National Stock Exchange (NSE) were Trent, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, Shriram Finance, BPCL while the IndusInd Bank, Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid Corp, M&M remained the major losers during the trading hours.

In sectoral indices, metal, realty, telecom, oil and gas rose 0.5-3 per cent, while auto, IT, bank fell 0.5 percent each. On BSE, the Midcap index was up 0.6 per cent, while smallcap index witnessed a decline of 0.7 per cent. (ANI)