Update: At mid-day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 1,400 points.
Even though everyone knew what was coming, Wall Street is reacting with alarm to what transpired Wednesday in the White House Rose Garden.
When President Trump announced sweeping tariffs on just about all imported goods, investors began selling, fearing an all-out trade war. Thursday morning, Dow futures plunged more than 1,000 points, or 2.5%.
In particular, American companies that produce their products in other countries and will face steep tariffs have fallen the hardest, including:
| Nike | -9% |
| Apple | -7% |
| Tesla | -4.1% |
| Nvidia | -3.5% |
Retailers that heavily depend on imported goods for their inventory are also selling off, including Dollar Tree, Five Below and Gap.
Higher than expected
Trump announced a 10% tariff on all imports, with much higher rates for key trade partners like China, Europe, and Japan, who Trump said have placed much higher tariffs on American products.
Even though the tariffs were anticipated, it may be the details that have rattled investors. According to CNBC, the combination of a 10% across-the-board duty and reciprocal tariffs make the tariffs for some trading partners much higher than expected.
“What was delivered was as haphazard as anything this administration has done to date, and the level of complication on top of the ultimate level of new tariffs is worse than had been feared and not yet priced into the market,” Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth Management, told CNBC.