'The way Donald Trump has gone about imposing tariffs...' - Zerodha boss Nithin Kamath red flags 'US Empire'

US President Donald Trump’s latest decision of imposing tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada has rattled global markets. While India is not part of the first list of the executive orders that come into effect from February 1st, both Nifty and Sensex slipped for second consecutive session. Not just India, stock markets across Asia and Europe were in red due to what the analysts are calling ‘Trade War 2.0’.

Weighing in on the issue, Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath said that the decisions by Trump “makes it feel like we are subjects of the US empire.” In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Kamath shared two world maps that showed the global trades in 2001 and 2023.

The way Donald Trump has gone about imposing tariffs and making statements about other countries makes it feel like we are all subjects of the "US empire," if it wasn't evident till now.In terms of trade, China today is the largest trading partner for over 120 countries. In pic.twitter.com/e6cJF9EdBP
Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) February 3, 2025

Citing the data from IMF, Rajah and Albayrak and Lowy Institute, the Zerodha boss gave a picture of what’s happening in terms of global trade at the moment. As per the data, Kamath says, “China is the largest trading partner for over 120 countries.” On the other hand, the US is the most dominant nation when it comes to financial and military strength, as of now, Kamath added.

He also spoke about the interconnected world that may witness “collateral damage” in case such tariffs are imposed. “In such a globalized and interconnected world, how can you increase tariffs, which will inflict collateral damage, and still hold on to power,” Kamath asked in his social media post.

At the close on Monday, BSE Sensex was down 319 points at 77,186 while the Nifty was down 121 points at 23,361. Similarly, South Korea’s KOSPI was 2.5% down and Japan’s Nikkei stock index closed 2.7% lower at market close, the latest data showed.

Trump has also hinted that the European Union may also face tariffs “pretty soon.” "I can tell you that (there will be tariffs soon), because they've really taken advantage of I said, you know, we have over $300 billion deficit," he was quoted as saying by BBC. However, he didn't give any concrete timeline on the possible tariff on EU.