Escalating trade tensions: US tariffs spark global economic concerns

Countries around the world threatened to ratchet up a trade war with the United States as President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs ignited fears of steep price increases in the world’s largest consumer market.

The penalties announced by Trump on Wednesday triggered a plunge in world financial markets on Thursday and drew condemnation from other leaders reckoning with the end of a decades-long era of trade liberalization.

But there were conflicting