President Trump's Tariffs Have Arrived. 3 Things to Do to Protect Your Portfolio.
The idea of an import tax started weighing on investor sentiment in March, when President Trump laid out his initial plan to target Canada, Mexico, and China. Stocks tumbled, with the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) and Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) both temporarily slipping into correction territory. Indexes then recovered some terrain on hopes that the president, when announcing the complete plan, would be softening restrictions.But when "Liberation Day," as Trump calls it to reflect the concept of economic independence, rolled around on April 2, the tariffs announced were deeper and broader than expected. They covered countries around the world with a 10% baseline tariff -- and countries from Taiwan to Switzerland found themselves facing duties of more than 30% on their goods destined for the U.S.The result? The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite each fell the most since 2020 in the trading session following the news, as investors worried about the impact of the tariffs on U.S. corporate earnings and the economy.Continue reading
The idea of an import tax started weighing on investor sentiment in March, when President Trump laid out his initial plan to target Canada, Mexico, and China. Stocks tumbled, with the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) and Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) both temporarily slipping into correction territory. Indexes then recovered some terrain on hopes that the president, when announcing the complete plan, would be softening restrictions.
But when "Liberation Day," as Trump calls it to reflect the concept of economic independence, rolled around on April 2, the tariffs announced were deeper and broader than expected. They covered countries around the world with a 10% baseline tariff -- and countries from Taiwan to Switzerland found themselves facing duties of more than 30% on their goods destined for the U.S.
The result? The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite each fell the most since 2020 in the trading session following the news, as investors worried about the impact of the tariffs on U.S. corporate earnings and the economy.
