Wall Street followed global markets sharply lower Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced tariffs on imports of goods from around the world.
The double-digit tariff hikes rippled through world markets and economists are warning that the risk of recession is climbing.
Futures for the S&P 500 slumped 3.4% before the bell, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost 2.8%, auguring potential losses when U.S. markets reopen in a couple hours. Nasdaq futures tumbled 3.8%.
Sweeping Trump tariffs draw dismay, calls for talks from countries around the globe
Oil prices fell more than 4% and the U.S. dollar hit its lowest level against the Japanese yen since early October.
It was the fourth straight day that U.S. markets have begun falling early, though unlike the previous three, it appears unlikely that stocks will recover by day’s end.
After the U.S. market closed Wednesday, Trump declared a 10% baseline tax on imports from all countries and higher tariff rates on dozens of nations that run trade surpluses with the United States. Trump says the U.S. will charge a 34% tax on imports from China, a 20% tax on imports from the European Union, and 32% on Taiwan, a crucial supplier of computer chips.
The announcement came as a “major shock,” Yeap Junrong of IG said in a commentary. “China, in particular, was hit with an additional 34% tariff, bringing its total tariff burden to 64% when accounting for previous measures.”
Losses in Asia were partly blunted by expectations of further economic stimulus from Beijing to offset the impact of the higher tariffs.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.7% to 22,813.22, while the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.2% lower to 3,342.01.
Trump has said he wants tariffs to make the global system more fair and to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States from other countries. But tariffs threaten to grind down growth for the U.S. and other economies while exacerbating inflation, which appears to have become stuck stubbornly above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
Those fears played out across the retail sector early. A number of U.S. companies in have shifted production to places like Vietnam in recent years to avoid sanctions on China. But Vietnam is among the hardest hit under Trump’s tariffs.
Shares of Nike, Best Buy, and Dollar Tree plunged more than 11% before the opening bell Thursday.
Trump earlier announced 25% tariffs on auto imports; levies against China, Canada and Mexico; and expanded tariffs on steel and aluminum. Trump has also put tariffs against countries that import oil from Venezuela and plans separate import taxes on pharmaceutical drugs, lumber, copper and computer chips.
Treasury yields swung in the bond market, echoing the indecision seen in the stock market.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell as low as 4.04% overnight from 4.23% late Wednesday and from roughly 4.80% early this year. By morning it had settled to 4.11%. Higher yields can indicate higher expectations for the economy or for inflation.
Oil was not spared from the wreckage. U.S. benchmark crude shed $3.36, or 4.7%, to $68.35 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up $3.29, or 4.4%, to $71.66 per barrel.
Oil prices generally decline when pessimism about the economy grows as it is literally the fuel in most economic growth. Oil is bought and sold in U.S. dollars and while protectionist trade policies can lift a nation’s currency, the dollar slid Thursday.
The fear is that the burgeoning trade were will come back to haunt the U.S.
“Most commodity prices are lower, even gold, on concern that this major escalation of the trade war will harm not just the global economy but the U.S. as well,” said Sal Guatieri and Jennifer Lee, senior economists with BMO Capital Markets Economics.
In Europe at midday markets were also sharply lower, though not as bad as in the U.S.
Germany’s DAX fell 2.4%, the CAC 40 in Paris lost 2.7% and Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 1.5%.
In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index dipped 4% briefly, with automakers and banks taking big hits. It closed down 2.8% at 34,735.93.
Japan’s yen gained, with the U.S. dollar falling to 146.64 yen from 149.28 yen. The euro rose to $1.1080 from $1.0855.
In South Korea, which was hit with a 25% tariff, the benchmark Kospi fell 1.1% to 2,486.70.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9% to 7,859.70.
Bangkok’s SET shed 1.1% after Thailand was assigned at 36% tariff on its exports to the U.S. That could cause Thai exports to fall by $7 billion to $8 billion, or about 2.3% of the total, Kasem Prunratanamala of CGS International said in a report.