Investors are seeing red on Monday as the stock market and major indexes continue their downward plunge ahead of Donald Trump’s expected April 2 announcement of a sprawling tariffs package, which the president is billing as “Liberation Day.”
Trump is expected to enact a massive economic package that will match foreign tariffs against American goods, and end the month-long delay on planned tariffs against Canada and Mexico, the U.S.’s largest and most significant trade partners. The recent market slide, which began in earnest on Friday, was compounded over the weekend amid growing fears that the president’s economic plans will send shockwaves through the global economy — and several less that reassuring statements from Trump.
In a weekend interview with NBC News, Trump said he “couldn’t care less,” if his planned 25 percent tariff plan on foreign automobiles raised prices for American consumers. “I couldn’t care less. I hope they raise their prices, because if they do, people are gonna buy American-made cars. We have plenty,” he said. On Sunday night, the president told reporters on Air Force One that he planned to start by implementing tariffs against “all countries,” and whittle down exceptions as he sees fit.
Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs recently upped its odds of a recession to 35 percent, increased its annual forecast for unemployment to 4.5 percent, and slashed its outlook for major markets and GDP growth. “We continue to believe the risk from April 2 tariffs is greater than many market participants have previously assumed,” the firm wrote in its note to investors.
By the time markets opened on Monday morning, investor panic was coming to a head. By mid-morning, the NASDAQ had touched a six-month low, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged over 300 points at market opening, and the S&P 500 is now on track to match its worst performance in a single month since September 2022.
Tesla, the flagship company of Trump’s unofficial co-president Elon Musk, dropped more than 10 percent in the past five days after a weekend of protests against the billionaire, who spent the weekend openly attempting to purchase a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat. Trump and his allies have been blatantly trying to boost Tesla’s stock price in recent weeks, and the administration has vowed to crack down on protesters. Musk said last week that the government would “go after” anyone “pushing propaganda” about his company.
The president’s closest advisers have been acknowledging for weeks now that their economic plans will require everyday Americans to bear a significant amount of economic hardship in the near future. In their view, the long term gains for corporate America justify whatever damage is done to the working class.
Trump claims that his April 2 tariff package will be “liberation day” for Americans struggling under the financial burdens imposed on them by past administrations. While he intentionally pushed back their rollout to avoid any April Fools confusion, the joke is on the United States — as “liberation” is currently coming in the form of Americans seeing their investment accounts wiped out in real time.
“This country is going to be more successful than it ever was,” Trump said baselessly on Sunday, ignoring a question about his tariffs slowing economic growth. “It’s going to boom. We’re going to have Boomtown, USA. We’re going to boom.”
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