Before the bell: “This is the most important day in our country’s history”

Trump shows his radical approach with extremely high import tariffs. Wall Street turned deep red in after-hours trading.

At exactly 10:00 p.m. CET, Trump kicked off what he described as the most important day ever for the United States. The principle? The U.S. will now impose tariffs equal to half of the import duties that other countries charge on American goods. That may sound generous, but the tariff levels Trump references are wildly exaggerated. For instance, he claims the EU imposes a 39% tariff, so the U.S. will now charge 20% on all imports from the EU. China? 34%. Switzerland? 31%. And so on. A second principle: imports from countries without “reciprocal” trade policies will face a minimum tariff of 10%. Is this just bluster, a negotiation tactic, or does he mean it? There are a few exceptions—semiconductors and pharmaceuticals won’t be taxed. All eyes are now on how affected countries will respond. Trade will certainly be disrupted. Consumers will pay more and/or businesses will see their profit margins shrink. Everyone loses. And once retaliation begins, things could spiral further. Still, that didn’t stop Agfa-Gevaert from announcing the closure of a film factory in the U.S., and Siemens just bought U.S.-based R&D software company Dotmatics for 5.1 billion dollar.

Asian markets started the day sharply lower, with a 3% drop in Tokyo and 2% in Hong Kong. European futures point to a 2% loss at the open. Later today, the U.S. will release PMI data for the services sector. But few will pay attention to March figures now—Trump’s “gift” of sweeping tariffs will likely cast a long shadow over market sentiment in April. That said, every cloud has a silver lining: the odds of picking up stocks at lower prices have just gone up. And Trump may still reverse course if he senses the markets or economy taking a serious hit.

Sparkling water (picked up for a bargain)

We’ll wash down Trump’s bitter trade tariffs with a refreshing glass of mineral water, courtesy of Spadel’s annual results. Volume jumped by an impressive 9.1% to over 1 billion liters—a record. Revenue rose 9.7% to 379.3 million euro, while profit surged 45% to 41 million euro. The strong results are tied to growing health consciousness—drinking more water, including at cafés, is now part of the trend. Spadel is innovating with fruit-flavored varieties, which already account for 15% of revenue. It’s unfortunate that nearly 95% of the company’s shares are held by CEO and main shareholder Marc du Bois, making the stock highly illiquid. Back in 2014, he tried to delist Spadel but failed—though he did scoop up many shares on the cheap.

Real estate: development still carries big risks

Real estate developer Nextensa—part of the Ackermans & van Haaren group, though listed independently—announced after market hours that it is paying 62.5 million euro for the former Proximus headquarters, including its twin towers in Brussels’ North District. The redevelopment permit is being bought from Immobel for 18 million euro—a bit of consolation for the other Brussels-based developer. Back in 2021, Immobel had agreed to purchase the towers for 143 million euro, then paid a 30 million euro penalty to Proximus to cancel the deal, having already incurred 18 million euro in related costs.

Did you know…

that Wall Street stayed calm ahead of Trump’s speech yesterday and even moved slightly higher just before the closing bell? There were clearly no leaks—well done, Mr. Trump!

This article was translated from Dutch and was originally published on Spaarvarkens.be.