The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 2,200 points during Friday morning trading, a day after being down 1,600 points amid a broad swath of tariffs unveiled this week.
Aside from the Dow drop, the Nasdaq Composite shed more than 5.9 percent on Friday, following a 6 percent drop a day earlier. The S&P 500 also saw a more than 5.9 percent decline in the morning period, following a 4.84 percent drop on Thursday. The volatility index, or VIX, was also up by 45 percentage points.
This week, the Trump administration declared an economic emergency and imposed a 10 percent tariff on nearly all countries and territories. It has set even higher levies for about 60 nations that it says are the “worst offenders.”
The 10 percent global tariffs take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday. The higher tariffs set for specific countries are due to kick in at one minute past midnight on April 9.
“China’s non-market policies and practices have given China global dominance in key manufacturing industries, decimating U.S. industry,” the administration said in its April 2 fact sheet.
“Between 2001 and 2018, these practices contributed to the loss of 3.7 million U.S. jobs due to the growth of the U.S.-China trade deficit, displacing workers and undermining American competitiveness while threatening U.S. economic and national security by increasing our reliance on foreign-controlled supply chains for critical industries as well as everyday goods.”
Canada and Mexico were excluded from the new tariff regime because they are already facing 25 percent duties on a number of imported goods that President Donald Trump had announced last month in a bid to tamp down on illegal immigration and fentanyl trafficking into the United States.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump said he would impose tariffs on a number of countries, especially China, because he believes the United States was at its most prosperous period during the late 19th century and early 20th century in a period known as the Gilded Age. He’s also cited President William McKinley as an inspiration and has changed the name of Alaska’s Denali mountain back to Mount McKinley.
In remarks on Thursday evening during an Air Force One trip to Florida, Trump signaled that some of the tariffs he had announced may be a negotiating tactic.
“Every country’s called us,” he said.
“We put ourselves in the driver’s seat. If we would have asked some of these countries, or most of these countries, to do us a favor, they would have said no. Now, they’ll do anything for us.”
American trade policy created a U.S. trade imbalance worth $1.2 trillion last year, a gap that some experts believe should be addressed in order to ensure the country’s long-term economic strength.
Some countries have said they would retaliate against the U.S. tariffs. On Friday, the Chinese regime imposed a 34 percent tariff on all U.S. imports starting from April 10, according to a statement.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at an event on Thursday that the 27-member European Union is finalizing its first package of tariffs on U.S. products.
“And we’re now preparing for further countermeasures to protect our interests and our businesses if negotiations fail,” she said in a statement.
