Stock market tanks after Trump confirms tariffs to start at midnight: ‘No room left for Canada or Mexico,’ 25% tariffs set to take effect

Trump: ‘No room left for Canada or Mexico,’ 25% tariffs set to take effect tonight with potential new duties

Stock market tanks after Trump confirms tariffs to start at midnight

The stock market plummeted after President Donald Trump confirmed tariffs on Canada and Mexico would go into effect at midnight.

The Dow Jones Industrial Index lost 2.1 percent, the S&P 500 fell 2.3 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down 3.2 percent in afternoon trading.

Orange Sultan Hits Again!

“The economy appears to be gagging on the uncertainty created by the haphazard economic policymaking happening in DC,” Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi said in a recent post. He listed a range of factors, including “tariff wars, DOGE cuts to jobs and government programs and agencies, and deportations [that] are sowing confusion, which puts a pall on investment, hiring and spending.”

Speaking from the White House alongside Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Trump confirmed 25 percent tariffs on America’s largest trading partners would start on Tuesday.

This dashed investors’ hopes of a possible last-minute deal to avoid the full tariffs.

‘Tomorrow, tariffs – 25 percent on Canada and 25 percent on Mexico,’ Trump said during a press conference. ‘And that’ll start. … What they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in which case they have no tariffs.’

Following Trump’s comments, Wall Street’s fear gauge – which is known as the VIX – soared to its highest point this year so far.

‘Whether the stock market can survive this change remains to be seen,’ Chris Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS, said in a note. ‘One way or another, tariffs will be a shock for the economy.’

The sweeping tariffs on Canada and Mexico had been due to come into force in February, but had been delayed for a month.

Some investors fear the levies will be inflationary, as well as pushing up the cost of everyday products for American consumers.

Trump: Starting April 2, tariffs will hit foreign goods, boosting demand for U.S. agricultural products.

Monday’s stock market sell-off comes after the three major Wall Street indexes recorded losses for February.

The losses were largely due to fears about the impact of tariffs – which also includes an increase to duties imposed on China – alongside fears over sticky inflation and a slowing US economy.

Stocks set to take a direct hit from the tariffs or from retaliation from the targeted countries also fell on Monday, CNBC reported.

Automakers GM and Ford fell following the announcement, over fears the duties could disrupt a quarter of a trillion dollars in trade.

Nvidia led the losses in the technology sector, losing more than 9 percent in afternoon trading.

The Tax Foundation estimates that Trump’s 2018-2019 tariffs shrank US GDP by about 0.2%. The proposed tariffs this week against just Canada and Mexico are projected to surpass that, the group said, even setting aside all-but-certain retaliation and Trump’s moves against China.

The potential economic costs were also underlined Monday, with the Institute for Supply Management’s PMI Manufacturing report for February coming in below expectations on tariff uncertainty.

Committee chair Tim Fiore then told Yahoo Finance Monday “I really quiver to think of what would happen if the Mexico and Canada tariffs go into place in the next couple of days and what that would mean for the PMI for March.”

Still, Trump has repeatedly insisted that tariffs “will indeed go into effect” even as Trump and his aides tout dramatic drops in border crossings — the other major stated rationale for this week’s move — but with Trump claiming those changes are “mostly due to us.”

And,

Canadian government likely resigned to possibility of Trump tariffs

A growing economic cost

Underlying the trade tensions is a market recognition that Trump following through on even a small portion of his promises will have wide-ranging effects.

The Tax Foundation calls Trump’s 2018-2019 tariffs “one of the largest tax increases in decades” — and those duties were largely focused on China.

Those moves, the group estimates, reduced the long-run US GDP by 0.2% and lowered employment by the equivalent of 142,000 full-time jobs.

Trump’s promises are much more wide-ranging this time. He has already followed through on one China-specific pledge: slapping 10% duties on Chinese goods in early February over the drugs and migration issues.

Those duties alone, the Tax Foundation estimates, are set to shrink the US economy by about 0.1% if left in place.

But even if Trump eventually pushes this week’s deadline, another looms close behind with 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum set to take effect on March 12.

A recent Goldman Sachs (GS) research paper on the issue noted that if Trump drops this week’s threat and follows through on that second threat — and then does nothing else but keep the tariffs in place — it would be “roughly equivalent to all of the tariff hikes from the first Trump administration.”

And plenty more is still possible. Trump has launched Commerce Department investigations into products such as semiconductors, copper, automobiles, and pharmaceuticals for potential new duties.

Instead of wasting time in UK talking to an useless monarch,

Listen to this true Canadian Patriot for a sec…

Sociopolitical commentator Eddie Hardie:-

Canada is run by a bunch of Low IQ crooks and criminals who couldn’t even understand that EU is just as bad as Canada.

The only Savior for Canada is China. That ‘s it for now: Why Partnering with China may resolve the U.S. Auto Tariffs… “Riding the Dragon” may be the ultimate (and highly beneficial) Solution 

Go woo the Dragon

— Kungfucius