Trillions down the drain. Trump’s top trade adviser remains unbothered

A top White House trade official has a message for world leaders caught in the crosshairs of US President Donald Trump’s tariff plans: it’s “just the beginning.”

A top White House trade official has a message for world leaders caught in the crosshairs of US President Donald Trump’s tariff plans: it’s “just the beginning.” Peter Navarro, the president’s senior counselor on trade and manufacturing, wrote in an opinion piece in the Financial Times Monday that other countries — in addition to tariffs on US goods — have unfairly targeted American products with a raft of “non-tariff weapons,” including laws targeting big US tech firms and “discriminatory” product standards. “To those world leaders who, after decades of cheating, are suddenly offering to lower tariffs — know this: that’s just the beginning,” he wrote. Trump’s plans to impose punishing “reciprocal” tariffs on imported goods from dozens of countries have triggered massive drops in global stock markets in recent days. Since the president announced the new levies last Wednesday, the S&P 500 has plummeted nearly 11%, which wiped $5.2 trillion off America’s benchmark stock index alone. The rout has taken the US from a bull stock market to the brink of a bear market — defined as a fall of 20% from its recent peak — faster than under any president in modern history. Based on Monday’s closing level, the S&P 500 is down 17.6% from its record high on February 19. The tech-stock heavy Nasdaq Composite index has already crossed into bear market territory, shedding 22.6% between its all-time high on December 16 and Monday’s close.