UPDATE II: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 1,679 points, nearly a 4% drop Thursday.
UPDATE: The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 1,566 points, or -3.71% as of 11 a.m. ET Thursday, after the Trump White House’s “Liberation Day” tariffs announced Wednesday.
Red Thursday Comes – The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged (checking phone app) 1,409 points as of 10 a.m. Eastern Time Thursday morning, a 3.34% drop from the New York Stock Exchange’s opening bell some half-hour earlier. The tech-heavy NASDAQ was down about 4.5%. Stellantis, parent of the Chrysler brands, announced it is idling the Windsor, Ontario plant where it assembles the Pacifica minivan and the Toluca, Mexico plant where it assembles the Jeep Compass, The Wall Street Journal reports, but also announced about 900 layoffs in Michigan and Illinois factories.
Son of Smoot-Hawley … After Wall Street went home for the day Wednesday, President Trump announced tariffs on 57 countries and territories, on top of the “base” US tariff of 10%. Key tariffs include:
China: 34%
European Union: 20%
India: 27%
Pakistan: 30%
Japan: 24%
South Africa: 31%
South Korea: 26%
Switzerland: 32%
Vietnam: 46%
And Paul, too … Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Time Kaine (D-VA) co-sponsored a Senate joint resolution late Wednesday to effectively end President Trump’s “steep tariff on Canadian goods,” CQ Roll Call reports. It passed, 51-48, with Republican senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, joining Paul and all the Democrats to vote in favor. The House is not likely to take up the non-binding resolution.
The resolution calls out the Trump White House’s use of “emergency powers” to impose 25% tariffs on such Canadian imports as steel, aluminum, assembled cars and trucks and many other goods.
--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa