Stocks plunge and businesses recoil after across-the-board tariffs
President Donald Trump’s trade war is sending shock waves through financial markets and rattling business owners around the world as they try to make sense of new tariffs that are taking hold as early as Thursday.
The onslaught of new tariffs sent U.S. stocks tumbling Thursday morning, with the S&P 500 falling more than 3.7 percent and the Nasdaq down 4.8 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, dropped 1,300 points. Major indexes in Asia and Europe also took a fall, although some recovered their losses during their trading day.
The rollout of new tariffs, which economists have warned will cost U.S. consumers and businesses billions of dollars this year, threatens to radically alter the economic outlook. Economists on Wall Street and beyond are now warning that an economic downturn is becoming much more likely this year.
“These tariffs are worse than even our worst-case scenario,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG. “This has boosted recession risks quite dramatically, and the reality is, if there isn’t a quick U-turn, we’re in for a recession with inflation, which is something financial markets have not seen in a long time.”
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