Trump’s tariffs haven’t been so popular with the stock market
The president has said people will ‘realize’ that tariffs are ‘beautiful’ for the country, despite the US stock market dropping again.
Donald Trump is staunchly championing his bold new “reciprocal tariffs” plan, unveiled on Liberation Day (April 2), sending shockwaves across the globe. The president argues that these tariffs on foreign goods will fuel American industries, spark job growth, and revitalize the US economy.
Under the new measures, the US will impose a 20% tax on European Union imports, 54% on Chinese goods, and 10% on products from the UK, along with a range of additional taxes affecting up to 60 countries. Trump’s aggressive move is aimed at leveling the playing field and securing economic prosperity for America.
Despite the president’s firm defense, the stock market swiftly took a nosedive, with the S&P 500 shedding a staggering $2 trillion in market value. Economists are raising alarms, warning that the tariffs could ultimately hit American consumers, driving up the cost of everything from groceries to cars—and even impacting retirement savings. Historically, tariff hikes haven’t exactly been a winning strategy for the US, raising doubts about the long-term effects.
Yet, even as stock futures continued to fall on April 6, President Trump is doubling down on his controversial plan, calling the tariffs a “beautiful thing to behold” for America’s future.
“We have massive financial deficits with China, the European Union, and many others,” Trump proclaimed on his social media platform, Truth Social. “The only way this problem can be solved is with tariffs, which are now bringing tens of billions of dollars into the U.S.A. They are already in effect, and a beautiful thing to behold.”
Trump didn’t miss the opportunity to take a swipe at his predecessor, Joe Biden, adding: “The surplus with these countries has grown during the ‘Presidency’ of Sleepy Joe Biden. We are going to reverse it—and reverse it QUICKLY. Some day, people will realize that tariffs, for the United States of America, are a very beautiful thing!”
Trump has also claimed that leaders from several countries around the world have been reaching out to strike deals with the US, according to reports from the New York Post.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of leaders—European, Asian, from all over the world. They’re desperate to make a deal,” he said. “But I told them, we’re not going to have deficits with your country. A deficit, to me, is a loss. We’re going to have surpluses, or at the very least, we’re going to break even.”
Despite his optimism, stock futures continued to dive, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping by 2.1%, and the S&P 500 falling by around 2.5%. The Nasdaq also took a hit, falling approximately 3.1%, while shares across Asia took a severe downturn. Tokyo’s 225 index plummeted by about 8% at the market’s opening, stabilizing at a 6% loss by midday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 9.4%, and the Shanghai Composite index fell by 6.2%.
While acknowledging the decline, the president insisted he doesn’t want to see stocks fall, but added, “Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.” He continued, “We’ve been treated so badly by other countries because we had stupid leadership that allowed this to happen. They took our business, they took our money, they took our jobs.”
