The fallout from Donald Trump‘s reciprocal tariff bombshell last week has been massive and it continues to grow. Stock markets are reeling. The S&P/TSX composite index fell into correction territory on Friday following in the S&P 500’s wake, with even further losses on Monday.

Critics of Trump’s plan, which will unleash a barrage of tariffs on April 9 ranging from a baseline of 10 per cent to the highest level of 46 per cent (for Vietnam), argue that it will drag the United States economy into a recession as the levies increase the cost of goods and suppress demand.

Among those questioning the wisdom of the tariffs are major figures in the investing world including Bill Ackman, founder of hedge fund Pershing Square Ltd. and a vocal supporter of the U.S. president.

Even Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, weighed in, saying the scope of the tariffs was “much larger” than had been anticipated.

Below is a roundup of what investors, economists and Wall Street titans have said about Trump’s tariffs:

“I strongly believe launching tariffs on April 9 against the entire world — massively in excess of what we are being charged — is a mistake.” — Bill Ackman, founder of Pershing Square, on X.

“Trump’s tariffs are the most expensive and masochistic the U.S. has pursued in decades. A very crude estimate of Trump’s tariffs puts the projected loss at US$20 trillion dollars, or well over US$200,000 per family of four.” — Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury secretary, on X.

“We are likely to see inflationary outcomes, not only on imported goods but on domestic prices, as input costs rise and demand increases on domestic products.” — Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co., in the company’s annual shareholder letter.

“The first order consequences of them (tariffs) will be significantly stagflationary in the U.S.” — Ray Dalio, founder of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates LP, referring to the economic bogeyman of rising inflation and slowing growth.

“We now expect real GDP to contract under the weight of the tariffs, and for the full year (4Q/4Q) we now look for real GDP growth of -0.3 per cent, down from 1.3 per cent previously.” — Michael Feroli, chief economist, JPMorgan. A note last week from JPMorgan’s global economic research group lifted the odds of a recession in the U.S. to 60 per cent from 40 per cent, in the wake of the dramatic tariff unveiling.

“While uncertainty remains elevated, it is now becoming clear that the tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected.” — Jerome Powell, chair, Federal Reserve, during a speech at the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing annual conference, adding, “the same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth.”

“The world was prepared for ‘reciprocal tariffs.’ Whatever the abomination that was launched at the Rose Garden was, it is a disaster — mostly for the U.S., but also for the global economy.” — Peter Tchir, head of macro strategies at Academy Securities, on Bloomberg.

“Trump’s tariffs are the “biggest policy mistake in 95 years.” — Jeremy Siegel, emeritus professor of finance, University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business, during an interview, on CNBC.

“If he (Trump) has any brain in his head, he will know that he has to de-escalate.” — Nouriel Roubini, economist and professor emeritus at the Stern School of Business, New York University, on Bloomberg.

Tariffs are “the most absurd thing I’ve seen on Wall Street covering stocks for the last 25 years. It’s the worst policy mistake in 100 years. It will go down in history as one of the worst moves to ever come out of D.C.” — Dan Ives, senior equity research analyst, Wedbush Securities, on Bloomberg

“None of this makes a whole lot of sense. But I suppose since last November, we’ve become immune to all this insanity.” — David Rosenberg, Rosenberg Research and Associates Inc., on BNN/Bloomberg

“The market is giving a big thumbs down to this tariff policy.” — Ed Yardeni, Yardeni Research, on Bloomberg.

“I think that was the dumbest, most economically illiterate speech I have heard in my life, and I’ve heard a lot of bad ones. It was filled with lies and distortions.” — Scott Lucas, professor of American Studies at University College Dublin, on international news network France 24. He backed up his assertion by saying the weighted average of European Union tariffs on the U.S. is one per cent. (Trump claimed the EU has a 39 per cent tariff rate on the U.S.) “What you had was the president of the United States speaking almost absolute nonsense, and the biggest nonsense of all is that tariffs can replace income taxes and that they will lead to economic growth. They won’t.”

“U.S. economic policy from the dark ages including tariffs and broader U.S. policy uncertainty are proving to be the ultimate wealth killers. — Derek Holt, Bank of Nova Scotia, in an investor note. Holt was referring to the last time high tariffs were imposed in the U.S. — in the 1930s — which economists say helped lead to the Great Depression

“The White House claims the assessment was performed by its ‘Council of Economic Advisers,’ but it wouldn’t pass muster in a first-year economics class,” Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist, Corpay Currency Research, in an investor note. The mathematics employed to arrive at the country-by-country tariff rates have been derided by economists. “The formula used to calculate the tariffs, released by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), took the U.S.’s trade deficit in goods with each country as a proxy for alleged unfair practices, then divided it by the amount of goods imported into the U.S. from that country,” the Financial Times, wrote. “The resulting tariff equals half the ratio between the two, resulting in countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia — which send large amounts of manufactured goods to the U.S. but import only small quantities from the U.S. — attracting punitive tariffs of 46 and 49 per cent respectively,” the FT said.

“I talked to 10 CEOs who are all in the (U.S.) business roundtable. These are CEOs of the largest American companies. They think this is a huge mistake, too much, that it will have lasting, negative repercussions for the United States.” — Brad Gertner, Altimeter Capital chief executive, on CNBC.

• Email: gmvsuhanic@postmedia.com

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