U.S. stocks fell for the fourth straight trading day on Tuesday since Trump announced last week, with the S&P 500 closing below 5,000 for the first time in nearly a year. The index is now 18.9% below its latest height on February 19, close to a 20% decline in defining a bear market.
LSEG data shows that since Trump announced last Wednesday, the S&P 500 companies have lost $5.8 trillion in stock market value, the deepest four-day loss since the creation of the benchmark in the 1950s.
Global markets have previously published earnings in hopes of Trump willing to negotiate trade barriers specific to countries and products, and he has created specific trade barriers in the world’s largest consumer market.
Japan’s Nikkei saw widespread sell-off on Wednesday morning, with other Asian markets also supporting the waterfalls, hours before tariffs began to take effect.
The government has arranged talks with South Korea and Japan, two close allies and major trading partners, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will visit next week.
“These are tailor-made, highly tailored deals,” Trump said at a White House event, signing an executive order aimed at boosting coal production. “We’ve talked to a lot of countries and they all want to come in. Our problem is, so soon.”
However, the White House made it clear that as planned, up to 50% of country-specific tariffs will come into effect at 12:01 am ET (0401 GMT GMT).
The tariffs are particularly steep for China as Trump announced last week’s protests Beijing announced that its responsibility for imports increased its import volume to 104%. China refuses to surrender to so-called blackmail and vows to fight to the end.
Government officials said they would not prioritize negotiations with the world’s second economic power.
“At present, we have received guidance to prioritize our allies and trading partners, etc. Japan and South Korea,” White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said in Fox News.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s tailor-made approach to negotiations with various countries could take into account foreign and military aid and economic factors.
Trump’s main trade negotiator Jamieson Greer told Congress that his office is working hard to work quickly but is not facing a specific deadline.
“The president is clear again that he has no exemptions or exceptions in the short term,” Greer told lawmakers.
Speaking to Republican lawmakers on the evening, Trump said he would soon announce “significant” tariffs on pharmaceutical imports, believing that these responsibilities would prompt pharmaceutical companies to transfer manufacturing operations to the U.S.
Trump’s widespread tariffs have increased concerns about a recession and upended decades of global trading order.
China is preparing for a war of loss, with manufacturers warning about profits and scrambling to plan new overseas factories. Citi cites the increase in external risks, reducing its 2025 GDP growth rate from 4.7% to 4.2%.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country’s 25% tariff on certain vehicles – a countermeasure that matches Trump’s approach – will take effect immediately after midnight.
Carney said on X: “President Trump has created a trade crisis – Canada is responding with purpose and force.”
Canada and Mexico are exempt from a new round of tariffs announced by Trump last week, but previous taxes remain. Most commodities that comply with existing trade agreements between the three countries are not subject to these tariffs.
Americans worry about prices
Three-quarters of Americans expect prices to rise as Trump’s tariffs begin, according to a Reuters/IPSOS poll.
Chipmaker Micron (MU.O) told customers it will impose tariff-related surcharges starting Wednesday, while U.S. apparel retailers said they are postponing orders and sticking with hiring. According to industry groups, when Trump’s 46% tariff on the country comes into effect, a running shoes that retail for $155 in Vietnam will cost $220.
Consumers stock when possible. “I’m going to buy anything twice as much – beans, canned food, flour, you said,” Thomas Jennings, 53, said as he pushed the cart at WMT.N, New Jersey.
A wide-based price increase may not occur immediately, as tariffs will not be available for goods that have already transited before they take effect.
Market slides have prompted some business leaders, including those close to Trump, to urge the president to reverse the path.
Global oil prices stabilized after falling to four-year lows.
A table shows the areas of imported products and the corresponding estimated price increase, which may be due to widespread Trump tariffs, ranging from 10% of medical diagnostic equipment to 30% of computer parts and toys and video games.
Meanwhile, the European Commission is protesting 25% on a variety of commodities, including soybeans, nuts and sausages, although other potential items, such as bourbon, are excluded. Officials said they were ready to negotiate tariffs on low- and low- and middle-income countries.
The 27-member group is struggling with tariffs on cars and metals that are already in place and faces 20% tariffs on other products on Wednesday. Trump also threatened to impose tariffs on EU alcoholic beverages.
European pharmaceutical companies are also concerned about the consequences of the tariffs, warning that the European Commission’s Trump tariffs will speed up the industry’s shift from Europe to the United States.
