ASX closes 2 per cent down, $40 billion lost by the bell

The ASX has endured another bleak day, after a horror morning of trading saw stocks plunge by almost 2 per cent.

The latest stock market horror story comes as Donald Trump's tariffs officially kicked in today, with $40 billion scrubbed from the ASX200 by the close of trade.

The ASX dropped 1.8 per cent to 7375 points by the bell.

READ MORE: 'Math on steroids': Australia's tariff beef blows up in US Senate grilling

The White House today announced that tariffs on imports from China would increase to an astounding 104 per cent from 2pm AEST today.

Following this, the ASX 200 dropped 2 per cent to 7349 when trading opened at 10am.

Mineral stocks have once again been one of the big losers.

While Australia stands to suffer little direct effect from the 10 per cent US tariff levelled on our imports, the heavier levies on Asian imports could hurt locally.

"Beijing is pledging to 'fight to the end', which doesn't spell good news for markets," eToro market analyst Josh Gilbert said.

READ MORE: Trump pushes tariffs on China to shocking 104 per cent

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Panic on Wall Street as Trump announces new tariffs

"The unfortunate part of that is that if China sneezes, Australia is likely to catch a cold."

Gilbert said the prospects for the dollar were not good.

"China is Australia's largest trading partner, and the fortunes of the AUD are closely tied to those of the Chinese economy," he said.

"For now, uncertainty and volatility will remain high, recession chatter will continue, keeping risk assets under pressure until we get clearer direction on tariffs, negotiations, and central bank moves."

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