U.S. stocks tumbled in early trading on Tuesday, just a day before President Donald Trump’s expected announcement of sweeping new tariffs, which threaten to escalate a global trade war.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 250 points, or 0.6%, while the S&P 500 declined 0.45%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq ticked down 0.3%.
Trump told reporters at the Oval Office on Monday that he had settled on a course of action for the fresh round of tariffs, though he declined to offer details.
Additional U.S. tariffs could elicit countermeasures from trade partners, exacerbating global trade tensions that erupted in response to a previous set of tariffs issued by the Trump administration last month.
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, March 31, 2025.
Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters
Europe has a “strong plan” to retaliate against Trump’s planned tariffs, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in a speech on Tuesday.
“We will approach these negotiations from a position of strength. Europe holds a lot of cards, from trade to technology to the size of our market,” von der Leyen said.
Days earlier, Trump told reporters over the weekend that his tariffs could affect “all the countries.”
“The tariffs will be far more generous than those countries were to us, meaning they will be kinder than those countries were to the United States of America,” he said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.