U.S stocks fell sharply on Friday’s opening as investors fear the impact of President Trump’s plan to slap tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.
The Dow Jones industrial index was down more than 340 points, or 1.3 percent, within an hour of Friday trading. The Nasdaq and Standard and Poor’s 500 indexes were each down roughly 1 percent in the same time.
Trump announced Thursday that he plans to impose tariffs next week of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum. He said the tariffs were essential to protect U.S. jobs and fight back against foreign rivals flooding the market with cheap metal.
The tariffs was almost universally panned by Republican lawmakers, who have been fighting Trump on his protectionist trade policies. The tariffs are widely expected to lead to retaliation from U.S. trade partners.
Stocks slid after Trump’s announcement, with automakers and jet builders leading the losses. The Dow lost 420 points on the day, a 1.7 percent decline, while the Nasdaq and S&P closed down roughly 1.3 percent each. Stocks were already fading Thursday, but Trump’s announcement triggered a quicker fall. The Dow fell as much as 580 points following the announcement shortly after 2 p.m. The Nasdaq and the S&P also fell roughly 1.8 percent each.
All three major indexes were still above their yearly lows set during a massive sell-off during the end of January through the start of February. After a year of record-busting gains, the stock market has been much more volatile in 2018, reflecting concerns about potentially tightening financial conditions.
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JUST IN: Stocks open with sharp losses after Trump announced massive tariffs on steel and aluminum imports https://t.co/7wIesldn1f pic.twitter.com/cBWWehC3NP
— The Hill (@thehill) March 2, 2018
This idiot is going to lead us right into another recession. My 401K is down to September 2017 levels now.
With Trumps betrayal of the GOP with the gun issue, immigration and now this he has effectively accomplished what many claimed he was going to do. Destroy the Republican party. Aw heck, his supporters however will try to re-elect him because , well you know a Democrat would be so much worse.
These tariffs are going to backfire big time. Everything — not just goods made from steel and aluminum — will become more expensive. And the premise that this will somehow bring manufacturing jobs back to the US is ridiculous. Tariffs have been tried before. They have never worked. All they do is create misery for the average consumer.
You are right – they never work; Remember Smoot–Hawley? Those tariffs pushed us over the edge in the Great Depression…
Although economists disagree by how much, the consensus view among economists and economic historians is that “The passage of the Smoot–Hawley Tariff exacerbated the Great Depression.”
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