Donald Trump is “burning down a house to cook a steak” as local and international equity markets go into freefall in response to the US president’s trade tariffs.

But superannuation funds are urging people to not panic if their balances slide.

The Super Members’ Council implored members to not move their money following a short-term market downturn and face missing out on a subsequent recovery in value.

“Super is a long-term investment,” executive general manager Matthew Linden said.

“We expect this week’s market falls will have little impact in 20 years – and beyond – when most of today’s super fund members will be starting to think about retiring.”

Australians might rightfully be concerned about the state of the economy and their superannuation balances, IG markets analyst Tony Sycamore says.

“I would describe it as being very much on a cliff edge,” Mr Sycamore told AAP.

“We’re looking over. There’s recession down there, there’s a liquidity crunch down there.”

Australia was uniquely placed to weather the economic storm, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.

Treasury modelling unveiled on Monday predicted Australia’s GDP to be 0.1 per cent lower and inflation to be 0.2 per cent higher in 2025 as a result of the tariffs.

Australia’s GDP would be permanently lower over the medium term, mainly as a result of indirect effects from reduced export demand from Asia, while the inflationary increase would only be temporary.

“What we’re seeing here is the impact of a series of bad decisions taken about tariffs,” Dr Chalmers said.

“And the whole world is trying to get their head around the impacts on their own economies and the global economy.”

More than $100 billion was wiped off Australian stocks on Monday after fears of a global recession heightened.

It was the market’s worst daily result since the COVID-19 shock of May 2020.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged it was a concerning time for Australians.

“We’re seeing a considerable impact, negative impact on the stock market,” he said.

“That impacts Australians, because superannuation funds have their shares there.”

Super funds are heavily impacted by falls in US equities because of their high allocations in the US stock market.

“If you log into your super fund at the moment – I’m too scared to look at mine – you’re going to be feeling a lot poorer,” Mr Sycamore said.

But the impact the downturn will have on Australians’ incomes will depend on the stage they are at in their work life.

While retirees are reliant on superannuation payments for their income, they tend to have more conservative allocations with higher concentrations of bonds to equities, meaning their balances would be less impacted.

Someone in the 30 to 50 age bracket is likely to see their balance take a heavier hit, but past experience suggests it’s likely to recover by the time they enter their retirement phase.

“If you’ve got a few years ahead of you, like many Australians will have, you’re probably not so concerned,” Mr Sycamore said.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the coalition had a proven track record of handling global economic shocks, such as September 11 and COVID-19.

“In uncertain times, our country needs strong economic management,” he posted on X.

“In this campaign the choice is about who can better manage our economy to help you get ahead.”

US President Donald Trump has warned foreign governments they will have to pay “a lot of money” to lift sweeping tariffs, characterising the duties as “medicine” and triggering further carnage across global financial markets.

Asian stocks posted steep losses in early trading on Monday and US stock market futures opened sharply lower as investors registered concerns that Trump’s tariffs could lead to higher prices, weaker demand, lower confidence and potentially a global recession.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Trump indicated he was not concerned about losses that have already wiped out trillions of dollars in value from share markets around the world.

“I don’t want anything to go down. But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” he said as he returned from a weekend of golf in Florida.

Trump said he had spoken to leaders from Europe and Asia over the weekend, who hope to convince him to lower tariffs as high as 50 per cent due to take effect this week.

“They are coming to the table. They want to talk but there’s no talk unless they pay us a lot of money on a yearly basis,” he said.

Trump’s tariff announcement last week jolted economies around the world, triggering retaliatory levies from China and sparking fears of a global trade war and recession.

Investors and political leaders have struggled to determine whether Trump’s tariffs are here to stay, or part of a permanent new regime or a negotiating tactic to win concessions from other countries.

On Sunday morning talk shows, Trump’s top economic advisers sought to portray the tariffs as a savvy repositioning of the US in the global trade order.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said more than 50 nations had started negotiations with the US since Wednesday’s announcement.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on CBS News’ Face the Nation the tariffs would remain in place “for days and weeks”.

Japan, one of Washington’s closest allies in Asia, is among countries hoping to strike some deal but its leader Shigeru Ishiba said on Monday results “won’t come overnight”.

Investors, however, are not hanging around.

As Ishiba spoke in parliament, Tokyo’s Nikkei cratered to a 18-month low, led by stocks in the country’s banks – some of the biggest lenders by assets globally – which have shed almost a quarter of their market value over the last three trading days.

The broad market sell-off seen on Monday comes as investors wagered that the mounting risk of recession could see US interest rates cut as early as May.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett sought to tamp down concerns that the tariffs were part of a strategy to pressure the US Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, saying there would be no “political coercion” of the central bank despite a post from Trump on his Truth Social platform urging chairman Jerome Powell to cut rates.

JPMorgan economists now estimate the tariffs will result in full-year US gross domestic product declining by 0.3 per cent, down from an earlier estimate of 1.3 per cent growth, and that the unemployment rate will climb to 5.3 per cent from 4.2 per cent now.

Billionaire fund manager Bill Ackman, who endorsed Trump’s run for president, said Trump was losing the confidence of business leaders and warned of an “economic nuclear winter” unless he called a time out.

US customs agents began collecting Trump’s unilateral 10 per cent tariff on all imports from many countries on Saturday. Higher “reciprocal” tariff rates of 11 per cent to 50 per cent on individual countries are due to take effect on Wednesday.

“If you want to cook a steak, you don’t need to burn the house down.”

As equity markets in Australia and around the world went into freefall on Monday, it was clear that US President Donald Trump was, in fact, burning down the house, says IG markets analyst Tony Sycamore.

That’s bad news for Australia’s economy and superannuation balances.

“I would describe it as being very much on a cliff edge,” Mr Sycamore told AAP.

“We’re looking over. There’s recession down there, there’s a liquidity crunch down there.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said Australia was uniquely placed to weather the economic storm.

Treasury modelling unveiled on Monday predicted Australia’s GDP to be 0.1 per cent lower and inflation to be 0.2 per cent higher in 2025 as a result of the tariffs.

Australia’s GDP would be permanently lower over the medium term, mainly as a result of indirect effects from reduced export demand from Asia, while the inflationary increase would only be temporary.

“What we’re seeing here is the impact of a series of bad decisions taken about tariffs,” Dr Chalmers said.

“And the whole world is trying to get their head around the impacts on their own economies and the global economy as well.”

More than $150 billion was wiped off Australian stocks in early trading after China’s retaliation to Mr Trump’s tariffs and no sign of any softening in the White House’s hawkish rhetoric drove fears of a US recession.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese acknowledged it was a concerning time for Australians’ finances.

“We do live in uncertain times, and we are concerned about the impact on global trade and the global economy,” he told reporters.

“We’re seeing a considerable impact, negative impact on the stock market. That impacts Australians, because superannuation funds have their shares there.

“I’m concerned about the impact in Asia. If you look at the impact of some of the tariffs on Asia, some of them were quite high.”

Super funds are being heavily impacted by falls in US equities given their high allocations in the US stock market.

“If you log into your super fund at the moment – I’m too scared to look at mine – you’re going to be feeling a lot poorer as a result of the events over the past three or four weeks,” Mr Sycamore said.

But the impact the downturn will have on Australians’ incomes will depend on the stage they are at in their work life.

While retirees are reliant on superannuation payments for their income, they tend to have more conservative allocations with higher concentrations of bonds to equities, meaning their balances would be less impacted.

Someone in the 30 to 50 age bracket is likely to see their balance take a heavier hit, but past experience suggests it’s likely to recover by the time they enter their retirement phase.

“If you were sort of planning on spending the money in a few months, you’re probably starting to panic a little bit,” Mr Sycamore said.

“If you’ve got a few years ahead of you, like many Australians will have, you’re probably not so concerned.”

The agriculture, energy, mining and durable manufacturing sectors were expected to be more adversely affected than others, Treasury’s analysis found.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the coalition had a proven track record of handling global economic shocks, such as September 11 and COVID-19.

“In uncertain times, our country needs strong economic management,” he posted on X.

“In this campaign the choice is about who can better manage our economy to help you get ahead.”

Public servants have been assured they won’t be forced back to the office as the opposition tries to quell fears Australians could lose the right to work from home.

The coalition had said it would end pandemic-era work-from-home arrangements for public servants if it won the May 3 election.

But just weeks after it was announced, Mr Dutton buried the policy.

“We got it wrong, we’ve apologised for it, we support flexible workplace arrangements,” he told reporters in Adelaide on Monday.

Voters grew concerned Mr Dutton’s ban would encourage the private sector to follow suit, and began turning away from the coalition, polling suggests.

The coalition was in the box seat to win the election in February, according to YouGov data, but within three weeks of the work-from-home announcement, Labor’s support had lifted to a level that would almost secure majority government.

“If you want to win working-class votes in working-class seats, you have to be on the side of people at work,” YouGov’s director of public data Paul Smith told AAP.

“The coalition had a strategy for working-class seats, but their policies were not on the side of working-class people.”

The opposition could only revoke work-from-home arrangements for public servants by changing laws in a way that would also remove the rights from all Australian workers, legal advice obtained by the Australian Council of Trade Unions has found.

“Australians cannot trust Peter Dutton with our rights at work,” ACTU secretary Sally McManus said.

The policy has also risked putting off female voters as Labor contends that flexible work arrangements particularly benefit women who can take on more work while looking after children at home.

The share of women working full-time has increased from 54 per cent to 58 per cent as work-from-home arrangements have become more common since COVID-19, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows. 

This may also be, in part, due to increased public spending in traditionally female-dominated industries like health and child care, but studies have shown that working from home has reduced the gender pay gap.

“(Mr Dutton) wants to rip the heart out of fairness in our industrial relations system,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Melbourne on Monday.

“He’s pretending that the policies he announced … just don’t exist and that everyone will just forget about all that.”

The coalition has also backed off on plans to fire public servants after it claimed Labor had added 36,000 Canberra-based bureaucrats since coming to power.

Between June 2022 and 2024, only 7400 public servants were added in Canberra, but finance spokeswoman Jane Hume maintained the sector would still be whittled down by tens of thousands of jobs over five years through a hiring freeze and natural attrition – not forced redundancies.

Mr Dutton now claims this was “always the plan” and accused Labor of “contorting that into something else”.

But the backflips have raised questions over how the coalition plans to find savings after saying the cuts to the public service would save $7 billion.

As Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton enter the second week of the election campaigns, the opposition leader visited Trouble and Strife cafe in Adelaide while the prime minister visited two Australians who work from home.

The latest Newspoll shows Labor is leading the coalition 52 per cent to 48 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis.

Star Entertainment has struck a $300 million deal with a United States casino giant to stave off financial collapse after teetering on the brink for months.

The embattled casino operator’s board has agreed to hand control of the group to Bally’s Corporation to avoid going belly up, the Australian Financial Review reports.

Bally’s operates 19 casinos across the US and online sports betting operations.

The American giant is expected to inject $250 million into the business and Star’s largest shareholder Bruce Mathieson will provide $50 million under the deal.

Star Entertainment has been contacted for comment.

The group had been on the verge of folding for months but kept its head above water by offloading its 50 per cent stake in a new Brisbane precinct, and a $250 million short-term bridging loan.

It has been seeking financial lifelines to avoid closing its doors and displacing 9000 staff across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sydney, but has yet to announce a deal.

The group most recently failed to secure $940 million from property development fund Salter Brothers Capital, after Star did not receive a binding debt commitment letter.

The Star has been in a trading halt since the end of February after being unable to file its half-year financial report without a refinancing plan to save it.

The casino group was once worth billions of dollars but has since been slapped with fines totalling more than $210 million and licence suspensions after money laundering allegations.

In 2022, a inquiry found damning evidence of money laundering and counter-terrorism failings at the groups’ Sydney casino.

A probe in 2024 found more breaches, including incidents of fraud and false welfare checks being logged for vulnerable customers.

A Queensland inquiry found The Star actively encouraged people banned from gaming in Victoria and NSW to its casinos in the Sunshine State.

Leaders of the G7 countries have expressed “deep concern” over China’s recent large-scale military exercises around Taiwan.

Foreign ministers of the G7 – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States – plus the European Union condemned Beijing’s “provocative actions”.

“These increasingly frequent and destabilising activities are raising cross-Strait tensions and put at risk global security and prosperity,” they said in a joint statement on Sunday.

G7 members and the international community have an interest in maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the statement said.

“We oppose any unilateral actions to threaten such peace and stability, including by force or coercion.”

China rejected the joint statement, calling it a “mischaracterisation of the facts and truth and an interference in China’s internal affairs.”

“China deplores, opposes and absolutely does not accept this,” a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Canada said.

China’s military conducted the drills over two days in early April. The military said the exercise, involving the army, navy, air force and missile unit, included precision strikes on simulated key targets.

The Chinese Embassy spokesperson said that the exercises were “severe punishment” against the Taiwan government’s “aggressive provocation to seek ‘Taiwan independence’,” as well as “a stern warning to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces who deliberately undermine peace across the Taiwan Strait.”

“No external force is in any position to point fingers at this,” the spokesperson continued.

“We will never ever allow anyone or any force to separate Taiwan from China in any form. We will take all measures necessary to firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

In addition to regular military exercises, Chinese fighter jets fly almost daily into Taiwan’s air defence zone, usually prompting a response from Taiwan’s Air Force.

China regards Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic and has repeatedly threatened to invade it in the past.

It has warned other countries, notably the US, to stop supporting Taiwan, which it regards as interference in China’s domestic affairs.

Democratic Taiwan, with a population of around 23.4 million, has had an has had an independent government since 1949.

South Korea’s finance minister says the government will prepare support measures for sectors with urgent needs, ahead of US President Donald Trump’s 25 per cent tariff.

“Minister Choi Sang-mok emphasised the need to analyse the impact on the macroeconomy and prepare support measures for sectors with urgent needs,” the ministry said in a statement.

On April 2, Trump introduced a blanket tariff on imports to the United States and higher tariffs against “worst offenders”, including a 25 per cent duty on imports from South Korea, to come into force on Wednesday.

South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo said last week the government would prepare support measures for the auto sector and seek negotiations with the Trump administration.

South Korea’s exports to the US hit a record high of $US127.8 billion ($A213.4 billion) in 2024, with automobiles – the top-selling product – accounting for 27 per cent of the total.

On Monday, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok and other policymakers also reviewed a response strategy ahead of Trade Minister Cheong In-kyo’s visit to the US.

Cheong’s upcoming visit will be the fifth senior-level visit from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy since Trump took office.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba says his government will continue to ask US President Donald Trump to lower tariffs against Japan, but admits results “won’t come overnight”.

“As such, the government must take all available means” to cushion the economic blow from US tariffs, such as offering funding support for domestic firms and taking measures to protect jobs, Ishiba told parliament on Monday.

Ishiba said Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on imports from Japan was “extremely disappointing and regrettable”, adding that Japan would continue to explain that it had done nothing unfair to the United States.

Ishiba also said he was willing to visit the United States for a meeting with Trump as soon as possible.

“But in doing so, we must ready a package of steps on what Japan could do,” he added.

Trump’s decision to slap a 25 per cent levy on auto imports, and a reciprocal 24 per cent tariff on other Japanese goods, is expected to deal a huge blow to Japan’s export-heavy economy with analysts predicting the higher duties could knock up to 0.8 per cent off economic growth.

Australian shares tanked early trading, wiping roughly $155 billion of the top 500 stocks after China announced it would respond in-kind to US tariffs, escalating fears of a global trade war and recession.

The S&P/ASX200 plummeted 460.3 points in early trading, or 5.99 per cent, to 7,2106, as the broader All Ordinaries fell 464.7 points, or 5.92 per cent, to 7,388.8.

The sell-off in the All Ordinaries 500 most valuable stocks on the bourse equated to more than $155 billion of the $2.6 trillion market value.

All 11 local sectors were deep in the red barely an hour into the session with financial stocks, which account for almost a third of the bourse’s value, shedding 7.2 per cent.

The fall follows a Wall Street furore on Friday, after China vowed to place a 34 per cent retaliatory tariff on the US in response to president Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs.

Materials stocks, which comprise almost a fifth of the local stock market’s value, were down eight per cent.

Energy stocks also tanked, down 9.6 per cent as crude demand worries pushed oil prices off a cliff.

Brent crude futures were trading at $US63.17 a barrel, the oil price down more than 18 per cent since Trump launched the tariffs last week, crushing crude demand expectations.

The White House has previously vowed to meet any retaliatory tariffs with even higher imposts, stoking fears of a race-to-the-bottom trade war that could in turn trigger a global recession.

“The sell-off in US stock markets has intensified this morning after China retaliated on Friday night,” IG Markets analyst Tony Sycamore said.

This had sparked “fears of a full-blown trade war, imminent recession, and a liquidity crunch last seen during the COVID crash of 2020”, he warned.

The slide in equities markets is expected to continue after US stock futures fell ahead of Wall Street resuming trading later on Monday.

Investors were short-selling markets in the UK, the European Union and Australia, Westpac economist Ryan Wells said.

“Stock market volatility spiked at a new post-pandemic high as the historic sell-off in global equities persists,  Mr Wells wrote in a research note.

Crude oil and copper prices are down while gold has unwound most of the rally seen in late March.

The Australian dollar fell below 60 US cents to 59.98 US cents to be down more than six per cent since the tariffs were announced on Thursday. 

Asian stock markets have plunged as fears of a global trade war saw Wall Street futures dive, and investors wagered the mounting risk of recession could see US interest rates cut as early as May.

Futures markets moved swiftly on Monday to price in almost five quarter-point cuts in US rates this year, pulling Treasury yields down sharply and hampering the dollar.

The carnage came as White House officials showed no sign of backing away from their sweeping tariff plans, and China declared the markets had spoken on their retaliation through levies on US goods.

US President Donald Trump told reporters that markets would have to take their medicine and he would not do a deal with China until the US trade deficit was sorted out.

Investors had thought the loss of trillions of dollars in wealth and the likely body blow to the economy would make Trump reconsider his plans.

“The size and disruptive impact of US trade policies, if sustained, would be sufficient to tip a still healthy US and global expansion into recession,” said Bruce Kasman, head of economics at JPMorgan, putting the risk of a downturn at 60 per cent.

“We continue to expect a first Fed easing in June,” he added.

“However, we now think the Committee cuts at every meeting through January, bringing the top of the funds rate target range down to 3.0 per cent.”

S&P 500 futures slid 4.31 per cent in volatile trade, while Nasdaq futures dived 5.45 per cent, adding to last week’s almost $US6 ($A10) trillion in market losses.

Japan’s Nikkei sank 7.8 per cent to lows last seen in late 2023, while South Korea lost 4.6 per cent.

The gloomier outlook for global growth kept oil prices under heavy pressure, following steep losses last week.

Brent fell $US2.12 ($A3.54) to $US63.46 ($A105.95) a barrel, while US crude dived $US2.05 ($A3.42) to $US59.94 ($A100.07) per barrel.

The flight to safe havens saw Treasury futures surge a full point, a very rare move for Asian trade, while Fed fund futures jumped to price in an extra quarter-point rate cut from the Federal Reserve this year.

Markets swung to imply around a 63 per cent chance the Fed could cut as soon as May, even though Chair Jerome Powell on Friday said the central bank was in no hurry on rates.

Yields on 10-year Treasuries dropped 10 basis points to 3.897 per cent amid the general flight from risk assets.

That dovish turn saw the dollar slip another 0.9 per cent on the safe-haven Japanese yen to 145.59 yen, while the euro held firm at $1.0955.

The dollar shed 1.2 per cent on the Swiss franc to 0.8501, while the trade-exposed Australian dollar dropped a further 0.7 per cent.

Investors were also wagering the imminent threat of recession would outweigh the likely upward shove to inflation from tariffs.

US consumer price figures out later this week are expected to show another rise of 0.3 per cent for March, but analysts assume it is just a matter of time before tariffs push prices sharply higher, for everything from food to cars.

Rising costs will also put pressure on company profit margins, just as the earnings season gets underway with some of the big banks due on Friday. Around 87 per cent of US companies will report between April 11 and May 9.

“We expect during upcoming quarterly earnings calls fewer companies than usual will provide forward guidance for both 2Q and full-year 2025,” analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a note.

“Rising tariff rates will force many companies to either raise prices or accept lower profit margins,” they warned.

“We expect negative revisions to consensus profit margin estimates in coming quarters.”

Even gold was swept up in the selloff, easing 0.7 per cent to $US3,013 ($A5,030) an ounce.

The drop left dealers wondering if investors were taking profits where they could to cover losses and margin calls on other assets, in what could turn into a self-feeding fire sale.