Trade war fears pushed U.S. and some Asian stock markets lower Wednesday, following the resignation of U.S. President Donald Trump's top economic adviser.
National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn was a leading administration opponent of Trump's plan to impose 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and 10 percent tariffs on aluminum imports.
"It has been an honor to serve my country and enact pro-growth economic policies to benefit the American people, in particular the passage of historic tax reform," Cohn said in a statement Tuesday announcing his resignation.
In Wednesday's trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down as much as 1 percent, but recovered some ground to close down about one-third of a percent. The Standard and Poor's 500 index fell slightly, while the Nasdaq composite and key European indexes posted gains. Earlier in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1 percent, while Japan's Nikkei stock index had a smaller loss.
As director of the NEC, Cohn tried to get Trump to abandon his tariff plan. But the president reiterated Tuesday that he will impose the measures in the coming days.
Source: Voice of America
