Global stock markets experienced a sharp decline on Wednesday following President Donald Trump’s announcement of new tariffs in a speech at the White House Rose Garden, sending shockwaves across major indexes and causing significant losses for companies dependent on global supply chains.
US stock futures, which predict market movement ahead of Thursday’s regular trading session, reacted swiftly to the news. The S&P 500 futures dropped by 3.5%, while Nasdaq 100 futures plummeted more than 4.3%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell sharply, losing up to 1,000 points.
The market’s sharp downturn comes on the heels of a difficult quarter for Wall Street, marking the worst performance since 2022. Despite some hope ahead of the announcement that Trump would take a softer approach to trade policy, the new tariffs caught investors by surprise, especially the sweeping 10% tariff on all trading partners and additional tariffs of over 20% on certain countries, which Trump described as “kind reciprocal.”
Shares of companies with global supply chain operations were particularly affected. In after-hours trading, major stocks took a hit, with Apple, Walmart, and Nike dropping 7%, and Amazon falling by 6%. Nvidia, which relies on international manufacturing for its advanced chips, also saw a nearly 6% decrease in its stock price.
CNBC host Jon Fortt described the market reaction as unprecedented. “This is worse than the worst-case scenario that many in the market anticipated from these tariffs,” Fortt said.
Gold prices surged to a record high of nearly $3,160 per ounce, reflecting a growing flight to safety among investors amid rising economic uncertainty. The precious metal, which remains exempt from the new tariffs, saw an increase of up to 0.8% as trading opened in Asia on Thursday.
While Mexico and Canada were not subject to any new tariffs, existing tariffs remain in place. Goods from these countries that meet the USMCA trade agreement’s criteria will still be exempt from tariffs, except for imports of automobiles, steel, and aluminum, which were already subjected to earlier tariffs in March.
Questions remain regarding the administration’s method for calculating the tariffs imposed by other countries on US goods, as there is no official record to verify claims that the European Union enforces a 39% tariff on US products or that Japan imposes a 46% duty, as stated in the president’s address.
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