Stock futures fell after President Donald Trump stunned investors by announcing higher-than-expected tariffs on Wednesday afternoon. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average
fell 1,064 points, or 2.5%, while Nasdaq-100 futures
sank 3.4% and futures tied to the S&P 500
slid 3.1%. But Treasury Secretary Scott Besant pushed back on the notion that Trump’s policies were behind the market sell-off, pointing instead to a pullback in big tech stocks. “What I would point out is that the Nasdaq in particular peaked on the day of the dipsick, so it’s a MAG 7 issue, not a MAGA issue,” he said Wednesday night.
The United States will impose a 10% baseline tariff on all imports and steeper rates on many countries, President Trump announced Wednesday. The “reciprocal tariffs” plan includes tariffs of 20% on the European Union, 32% on Taiwan, 34% on China and 46% on Vietnam, which will take effect in the coming days. The White House said the higher, country-specific tariffs are about half of what each country claims to have “charged” the United States, but market observers have quickly engineered the figures to create misleading results.
Countries around the world are weighing their next steps in the wake of Trump’s new tariffs, with many vowing to retaliate. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said we are ready to respond. “We are now preparing for further countermeasures to protect our interests and our businesses if negotiations fail.” China’s Commerce Ministry, meanwhile, urged the United States to “immediately cancel” the new tariffs, promising to take “determined countermeasures.”
The rabbit had a wild ride on Wednesday. The stock fell in the morning on the back of weaker-than-expected car deliveries, then rallied on reports that CEO Elon Musk could soon leave his White House role, only to sink again after Trump’s tariff announcement. The EV maker reported 336,681 deliveries in its first quarter on Wednesday amid protests and boycotts over Musk’s role in the Trump administration — a 13% drop from a year earlier. But Musk could be out of the White House soon: Trump recently told his cabinet members that the CEO would be leaving the administration in the coming months, according to NBC News. Tesla shares closed the day up more than 5% on the news, but the gains were largely erased by a post-tariff selling. Shares were last down 6% premarket.
Amazon founder
Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attend the inauguration ceremony before Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US president in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC on January 20, 2025. (LOEB/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
(L-R) Lauren Sanchez, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attend the inauguration ceremony before Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US president in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC on January 20, 2025.
Bidders are lining up for TikTok as ByteDance’s deadline to spin off the popular social media app’s American operations nears. CNBC confirmed that Amazon
submitted a bid for the app this week, sending its proposal in a letter to Vice President J.D. Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Ad technology company Applovin
is also in talks to potentially acquire TikTok, sources told CNBC’s David Faber on Wednesday. But the clock is ticking. TikTok faces another potential shutdown on April 5 unless ByteDance agrees to spin off the app’s American operations, although Trump has indicated he could extend the deadline.
This report was contributed by CNBC’s John Meloy, Pia Singh, Yun Lee, Dan Mangan, Kevin Bruninger, Jesse Pound, Christina Wilkie, Megan Casella, Erin Doherty, Neelabh Chaturvedi, Asriel Chua, Sophie Kiderlin, Lim Hui Gee, Aniek Bao, Laura Kolodny, Fred Hanbert, with Palade.
U.S. President Donald Trump walks toward Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on March 28, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One as he returns to Washington, D.C., U.S., on March 30, 2025.
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Wall Street backs away from Trump’s trade war
While the new tariffs open the door to negotiations, they also assure that the U.S. effective rate will remain in flux for the next few weeks or longer.
Wall Street backs down on Trump’s trade war
While new tariffs open the door to negotiations, t
