Global money market funds saw a surge in inflows in the week through March 5, as investors sought safer assets following the U.S. escalation of its trade war with steep tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China. Concerns over the potential economic impact of these trade measures drove investors to pour $61.32 billion into money market funds, a significant jump from the $39.55 billion invested in the previous week.

Meanwhile, demand for global equity funds dipped to a four-week low, with inflows totaling just $2.97 billion during the week. U.S. equity funds saw particularly weak sentiment, witnessing $9.54 billion in net outflows. However, European and Asian equity funds remained strong, attracting $5.87 billion and $5.83 billion, respectively.

President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a 50% tariff on Indian exports, half of which is framed as a penalty for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, is creating significant short-term headwinds for India’s financial markets and potentially weakening its long-term strategic positioning as an alternative to China in global supply chains.

The selective nature of the measure, which largely spares China despite its far greater imports from Russia, has amplified investor concerns over U.S. policy unpredictability and the durability of India-U.S. economic alignment.

The Trump administration’s reported plan to open a new wave of Section 232 national security tariff actions across additional industries shows how quickly U.S. trade policy is being reassembled after the Supreme Court’s ruling against Trump’s emergency-based tariffs.

The central point is not just that the White House is seeking replacement tariffs, but that it is shifting more of the tariff architecture onto legal authorities that are slower to deploy but more durable once in place.