Wall Street and European Stocks Drop Up to 4% on New Tariffs

Wall Street futures and European stocks fell up to 4% on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 10% base tariff on all imports, with higher rates for countries running trade surpluses with the U.S.

In after-hours trading, the Dow Jones dropped 0.5%, the S&P 500 lost 1.6%, and the Nasdaq tumbled 4%.

Tech giants, known as the Magnificent 7, saw sharp losses:

• Apple (-6.2%) led the decline, followed by Tesla (-4.9%)

• Amazon (-4.9%) and Meta (-3.6%) also dropped significantly

• Alphabet (-2.7%), Microsoft (-1.9%), and NVIDIA (-3.7%) followed suit

In Europe, Frankfurt’s DAX fell 2.4%, Paris’ CAC 40 dropped 2.1%, and London’s FTSE 100 declined 0.8%.

A Global Trade Shake-Up?

Trump unveiled a chart detailing new tariff rates, including:

• 34% on Chinese imports

• 20% on EU goods

• 25% on South Korea

• 24% on Japan

• 32% on Taiwan

• 10% on Argentina

Claiming the U.S. had been “plundered, pillaged, and robbed” for decades, Trump justified the move under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to pressure trade partners into lowering their own tariffs.

While he argued the tariffs would bring back manufacturing jobs, economists warn they could raise prices on consumer goods like cars, clothing, and electronics, impacting both households and businesses.

This marks one of the most aggressive U.S. trade actions in decades, potentially triggering retaliatory measures from major economies.