Tariff unease hits all asset classes

Both risk assets and traditional safe havens are under pressure from new US trade strategy, writes Nareerat Wiriyapong

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The unveiling of US President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs has sent shockwaves across all asset classes as threats posed by high tariff rates and trade tensions introduced greater uncertainty into the global economy, say pundits.

For example, US bonds experienced a large sell-off on the night of April 9 when new US tariffs took effect. There is speculation China might use its holdings of US government bonds as a strategic tool in the trade war.

Even gold, which typically benefits from risk-off sentiment, has seen recent pullbacks from US$3,244.09, its all-time high, during trading on April 11. The drop, according to analysts, occurred because tariffs caused a recent stock slump and investors sold gold to raise capital to make up for losses in assets such as stocks.

Markets generally react poorly to uncertainty, and when it's tied to fundamental pillars such as global trade and economic growth, the impact tends to be widespread across all asset classes, said Gulf Binance, the operator of Thailand's leading licensed cryptocurrency exchange Binance TH.

"We're witnessing a rare scenario where both risk assets and traditional safe havens such as bonds and US Treasuries are under pressure," Gulf Binance's chief executive Nirun Fuwattananukul told the Bangkok Post.

"Uncertainty at this scale erodes investor confidence, dampens global demand and tightens liquidity across markets. If the situation escalates into a full-blown trade war, we could see severe dislocations in currency markets. In such a scenario, real assets such as gold or digital assets like Bitcoin may emerge as strong long-term hedges against systemic risk."

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