The global stocks meltdown continued at Wall Street's open on Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump showed no sign of backing away from his sweeping tariff plans, and investors bet the mounting risk of recession could see the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates as early as May.

During a typical recession, consumer demand drops, meaning that companies selling products and services lower their prices (or at least not raise them) in order to entice reluctant customers to spend. But Trump’s across-the-board tariffs could potentially drive price increases at the same time they send the country into a recession.

The U.S. and global markets have already started to feel the impact of Trump’s tariffs, with the U.S. stock market taking the worst hit thus far. At the end of Thursday, April 3, Dow Jones closed at 1,

One economist told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot that a recession is inevitable. Georgia Tech economics professor Tibor Besedes specializes in international trade. He said the tariffs are based more on politics than on any economic theory and that the formula used by the White House to calculate them is fundamentally flawed.

Stan Druckenmiller and Bill Ackman are among those raising concerns about the president’s steep, across-the-globe levies.

President Donald Trump’s top economic advisers brushed off recession fears Sunday and said dozens of countries are looking to negotiate for better deals, after stocks tumbled last week following the announcement of stiff tariffs against nearly all of America’s trading partners.