Why does this matter to me?
The past 24 hours have intensified fears of a global recession arising from President Trump’s tariffs on other countries. A nascent rally in equities was scuppered by Trump’s insistence that, as of midnight US time, he would impose import tariffs of 104% on Chinese goods, with the Chinese Premier retaliating by pledging to fight against this and suggesting that China has the means to do so. The Rand was a victim of this increased pessimism, but the impact on domestic inflation stands to be countered by a further dramatic decline in oil prices.