U.S. President Donald Trump’s big raise in tariffs has triggered an escalating trade war and sent global markets plummeting

Investors, businesses and consumers all seem terrified of how President Trump's tariffs could upend the global economy.

By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) -Volatility measures across global financial markets jumped on Friday and Wall Street's top "fear gauge" soared to an eight-month high as China imposed fresh tariffs on all U.

Traders have flocked to bets this week that would pay out if stocks kept tumbling. Volumes in put options tied to stocks and exchange-traded funds hit the highest level on record Thursday and was on track to smash another high Friday,

U.S. stock futures fell sharply on Friday, signaling more losses on Wall Street, after China retaliated with fresh tariffs a day after the Trump administration's sweeping levies knocked off $2.4 trillion from U.S. equities.

The firm’s economists warned clients in a research note on Thursday that the risk of a global recession has gone up to 60 percent, assuming Trump’s new trade policies are sustained. In their analysis, the new tariffs will likely amount to “the largest tax hike since WWII” for Americans.

A roller-coaster quarter for markets is ending with little relief, as President Donald Trump’s disruptive trade policies and rising stagflation fears drive investors toward risk aversion.

Long-threatened tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump have plunged the country into trade wars. "The message to me is that in trade, allies and adversaries don't matter," former IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld said.

For decades, global commerce abided by tariff rates agreed to by the U.S. and 122 other countries during the 1980s and 1990s. On Wednesday, Trump detonated that arrangement, saying that other countries had exploited the system and “ripped off’’ the United States for years, causing its once-mighty manufacturing base to shrink.