Closing Bell: ASX crumbles on recession fears as China, EU vow retaliation over Trump’s tariffs

Trump’s tariffs slam markets, wipe billions off ASX, gold rises, and China, EU prepare retaliation.

Eddy Sunarto

6 min read

April 3, 2025 - 4:59PM

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Trump’s tariffs shake markets, billions wiped off ASX. Picture via Getty Images

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Trump’s tariffs shake markets, billions wiped off ASX
Gold shines as trade war fears spark safe haven rush
China, EU prep retaliation as global recession fears rise

Trump’s tariffs have hit markets hard, wiping almost $30 billion off the ASX on Thursday as the ASX 200 index plunged by around 1%.

This came as Trump announced a 10% baseline tariff on all imports coming to the US, with some countries facing even higher levies.

China’s looking at a potential 54% tariff on most of its goods, the EU’s copping 20%, and Japan’s set for 24%.

Australia has gotten off relatively lightly, yet will still face the minimum 10% tariff that all countries with low barriers to US exports will face. Trump has singled out our beef industry, leaving questions on how this will affect the agri sector.

The fear of a global recession was palpable today. US futures turned sharply lower with Nasdaq contracts plummeting more than 3% this afternoon.

Across Asia, markets also tumbled:

The crypto world was also hit hard, with Bitcoin dropping 4% to around US$82k. It's since climbed back up over US$83.4k at time of writing, however.

Gold, on the other hand, has hit new highs again as the shiny metal is stepping up as the go-to safe haven, up 1% today to trade just below US$3,150.

In China, retaliation was expected and Beijing is already vowing to fight back.

“This is a very serious situation where a global tariff war has become a reality,” said South Korea’s interim leader, Han Duck-soo.

The EU is also preparing for retaliation.

“We’re preparing for further countermeasures to protect our interests and businesses if negotiations fail,” said European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen.

The question now is: how much further things can go before this becomes a full-blown recession trigger.

Back home, Australia’s tech sector took the biggest hit today, followed by energy.

Source: Market Index

In the large caps space, Ansell (ASX:ANN), the medical equipment giant, saw the steepest fall, dropping 13.5%. The company’s US exports and Chinese manufacturing clearly made investors nervous.

Meanwhile, a few large caps have addressed the new tariffs with announcements.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (ASX:FPH) was up 2.5% despite flagging that the new US tariffs will bump up costs in the 2026 financial year, which could hurt its margin goals.

Treasury Wine Estates (ASX:TWE) fell 1.3%, even though the company reassured investors that the new tariffs will have minimal impact, given that only 15% of their wines come from outside the US.

And healthcare giant CSL (ASX:CSL) said its pharmaceutical products aren’t directly affected by the baseline tariff. However, it’s keeping an eye on the broader impact of the new measures, including the 20% tariff on EU imports. CSL’s shares rose 0.7%.

ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS

Today’s best performing small cap stocks:

Code	Description	Last	%	Volume	MktCap
RGT	Argent Biopharma Ltd	0.200	54%	482,560	$7,705,395
AXP	AXP Energy Ltd	0.002	50%	250,000	$6,574,681
GTR	Gti Energy Ltd	0.003	50%	60,000	$5,997,899
MOM	Moab Minerals Ltd	0.002	50%	5,000,000	$1,733,666
SKN	Skin Elements Ltd	0.003	50%	550,540	$2,150,428
GLN	Galan Lithium Ltd	0.150	43%	30,256,667	$88,200,977
88E	88 Energy Ltd	0.002	33%	1,359,639	$43,400,718
AOK	Australian Oil.	0.002	33%	62,174	$1,502,674
TFL	Tasfoods Ltd	0.004	33%	619,489	$1,311,287
CAN	Cann Group Ltd	0.030	30%	11,640,322	$12,715,408
CPO	Culpeominerals	0.015	25%	469,076	$2,639,547
CTN	Catalina Resources	0.003	25%	350,001	$3,032,524
ECT	Env Clean Tech Ltd.	0.003	25%	3,716,091	$7,293,621
LMS	Litchfield Minerals	0.175	21%	362,707	$4,090,645
ALY	Alchemy Resource Ltd	0.006	20%	368,891	$5,890,381
CLA	Celsius Resource Ltd	0.006	20%	10,077,330	$14,537,856
DTR	Dateline Resources	0.006	20%	2,235,871	$12,827,843
H2G	Greenhy2 Limited	0.013	18%	1,739,898	$6,580,026
X2M	X2M Connect Limited	0.021	17%	690,367	$6,810,143
ENV	Enova Mining Limited	0.007	17%	51,696,409	$8,481,005
GLL	Galilee Energy Ltd	0.007	17%	917,815	$4,043,157
RDS	Redstone Resources	0.004	17%	300,561	$2,776,135
SGI	Stealth Grp Holding	0.830	15%	728,581	$84,263,726

Argent Biopharma’s (ASX:RGT) CannEpil has just scored a major win, getting the green light for prescription in Germany. This is a huge step in the company’s push into Europe, giving doctors the go-ahead to prescribe CannEpil to patients with epilepsy, especially those struggling with drug-resistant forms. With around 816,000 people affected by epilepsy in Germany, the demand for new treatments is high, and CannEpil offers a promising option. CannEpil is a cannabinoid-based therapy developed by Argent.

Despite strong headwinds in the lithium space, Argentinian player Galan Lithium (ASX:GLN) has rejected a US$150 million acquisition proposal from Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co., and the Renault Group, calling it “opportunistic” and undervaluing the company’s key assets. Galan remains confident it will secure more favourable outcomes through ongoing offtake and financing arrangements for its Hombre Muerto West project.

Cann Group (ASX:CAN) has locked in supply deals with 11 Chemist Warehouse stores in Queensland. Under the agreements, Cann will supply its Botanitech medicinal cannabis products when requested by the outlets, in line with scripts under the TGA’s Special Access Scheme and Authorised Prescriber scheme.

X2M Connect (ASX:X2M) has won four new contracts in South Korea worth about $1.7 million, expanding its water digitisation project to 13,625 households in Ulsan, Busan, Incheon, and Gyeongju. The biggest win is in Ulsan, where X2M’s digitising water monitoring for 9,435 households, adding $1.1 million to the tally. This brings X2M’s customer base to 82, with deployments expected to wrap up by December.

Enova Mining’s (ASX:ENV) drilling at its CODA Central project has uncovered impressive high-grade titanium intercepts, including up to 17.5% TiO2 over 4m, and confirmed the continuity of the mineralisation. The project’s scale and potential are looking strong, with all drill holes ending in mineralisation, suggesting it could extend deeper. CODA North is also showing promising results, with high-grade titanium and rare earth mineralisation across broad areas.

ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS

Today’s worst performing small cap stocks:

Code	Name	Price	% Change	Volume	Market Cap
RAN	Range International	0.002	-33%	123,949	$2,817,871
VML	Vital Metals Limited	0.002	-33%	127,498	$17,685,201
AJL	AJ Lucas Group	0.006	-25%	2,005,030	$11,005,837
PIL	Peppermint Inv Ltd	0.003	-25%	314,810	$8,845,917
VEN	Vintage Energy	0.003	-25%	17,770,130	$7,155,687
EWC	Energy World Corpor.	0.013	-24%	428,389	$52,341,661
CKA	Cokal Ltd	0.028	-20%	3,580,594	$37,763,214
ADD	Adavale Resource Ltd	0.002	-20%	42,569,864	$5,718,198
ALM	Alma Metals Ltd	0.004	-20%	1,654,777	$7,931,727
AQX	Alice Queen Ltd	0.004	-20%	27,500	$5,734,450
BCB	Bowen Coal Limited	0.004	-20%	42,294,654	$53,878,201
CHM	Chimeric Therapeutic	0.004	-20%	2,577,928	$8,100,749
CUL	Cullen Resources	0.004	-20%	64,227	$3,467,009
OSL	Oncosil Medical	0.004	-20%	253,737	$23,032,901
VRC	Volt Resources Ltd	0.004	-20%	635,000	$23,423,890
BRX	Belararoxlimited	0.205	-18%	959,070	$35,991,028
OD6	Od6Metalsltd	0.024	-17%	379,060	$4,618,126
FNR	Far Northern Res	0.100	-17%	80,000	$4,831,899
TMS	Tennant Minerals Ltd	0.010	-17%	2,803,450	$11,470,685
CTT	Cettire	0.675	-15%	6,765,390	$303,084,385
SKY	SKY Metals Ltd	0.042	-14%	847,511	$34,824,455
AGY	Argosy Minerals Ltd	0.018	-14%	8,404,516	$30,574,340
AZI	Altamin Limited	0.024	-14%	35,851	$16,086,081
FBR	FBR Ltd	0.006	-14%	32,084,640	$39,440,511

Fashion retailer Cettire (ASX:CTT) tumbled 15% after news of changes to US tariffs on goods from the EU. Around 41% of Cettire’s H1-FY25 sales came from EU-made goods sold in the US, though shipments under US$800 remain tariff-free. The company’s assessing how these tariff shifts might impact its operations, with many luxury brands likely to hike prices in the US to offset the changes. But Cettire said it’s already working on ways to adapt to the new tariff landscape.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Andromeda Metals (ASX: ADN)has entered exclusive negotiations for a $75m debt facility with Merricks Capital to advance its Great White Project in South Australia. With all approvals in place and strong offtake commitments, securing funding stands as the major catalyst as it heads toward a final investment decision.

Taruga Minerals (ASX: TAR)has kicked off fieldwork at the historic Thowagee lead-silver mine in WA’s northern Gascoyne, marking its first modern exploration in 70 years. With silver prices soaring to 13-year highs, the company is looking to unlock value from high-grade outcrops.

Canadian lithium player Green Technology Metals (ASX: GT1)has boosted the resource at its Root lithium project in Ontario by 38% to 20.1Mt, lifting its total Canadian inventory to 30Mt. With Root set to be a key feedstock for its planned lithium conversion facility, the company is now preparing a standalone economic assessment to guide future development.

Bubalus Resources (ASX: BUS) has raised $1.5m via a placement to fund drilling at its Crosbie South gold-antimony prospect in Victoria, set to kick off in late April. With gold and antimony prices surging, the company is ramping up exploration in a historically underexplored region near high-grade operating mines.

Miramar Resources (ASX:M2R)has secured a rig for the upcoming drilling program at its 80%-owned Gidji JV gold project in WA. Drilling is set to commence within the next week, with M2R executive chair Allan Kelly expressing, given soaring gold prices, “the time is right to get back to work at Gidji and uncover its full potential”.

Bioxyne (ASX:BXN) has appointed leading neurologist and medical cannabis expert, Professor Michael Barnes, to its advisory board to support its UK medicinal cannabis expansion. Barnes, known for his work with GW Pharmaceuticals and advocacy for medical cannabis, will help the company navigate product registration and distribution.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Andromeda Metals, Taruga, Green Technology Metals, Bubalus Resources, Miramar Resources, Galan Lithium, Bioxyne and West Wits Mining are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Originally published as Closing Bell: ASX crumbles on recession fears as China, EU vow retaliation over Trump’s tariffs