Stocks Nosedive In Early Hours After Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs

Stocks tumbled in the opening hours on Thursday after President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on nearly every country across the globe.

The S&P 500 is on pace for its worst day since September 2022, with a 4% drop after the opening bell, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average also plunged 4%, CNBC reported. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5%. Shares of large American companies were down, with Amazon and Apple dropping more than 8% and Tesla falling 7% as of Thursday morning.

Global markets also took a hit after Trump’s tariff announcement. Europe’s STOXX 600 index and Germany’s DAX index were down more than 2%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped nearly 3%.

Trump announced what the White House has been referring to as “reciprocal tariffs” on Wednesday, imposing steep taxes on nearly all of America’s biggest trading partners. In a readout of his order, Trump argues that “despite a commitment to the principle of reciprocity, the trading relationship between the United States and its trading partners has become highly unbalanced, particularly in recent years.”

In a post on Truth Social on Thursday morning, Trump wrote, “THE OPERATION IS OVER! THE PATIENT LIVED, AND IS HEALING. THE PROGNOSIS IS THAT THE PATIENT WILL BE FAR STRONGER, BIGGER, BETTER, AND MORE RESILIENT THAN EVER BEFORE. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”

Trump’s Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, appeared on CNBC, urging Americans to be patient and saying that U.S. markets will do “extremely well” over the medium- and long term. Lutnick added that as a result of Trump’s tariffs, he expects “most countries to start to really examine their trade policy towards the United States of America, and stop picking on us.”

Countries targeted by Trump’s tariffs have already vented their frustrations with the move as some, including China and the European Union, have vowed to retaliate with more tariffs on U.S. exports. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned foreign nations against retaliation, saying they should “sit back, take it in” and “see how it goes.”

“Because if you retaliate, there will be escalation. If you don’t retaliate, this is the high-water mark,” Bessent added.