The Dow and S&P 500 dropped again on Tuesday after President Donald Trump doubled down on his threat to levy a new round of hefty tariffs on Canada.
Trump said Tuesday in a social media post that he would add a 25% tariff on Canadian electricity and a 50% tariff on all steel and aluminum the US imports from its northern neighbor.
The Dow was 440 points, or 1.05% lower, pulling back from being down 580 points at one point in the morning. The broader S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite fluctuated between gains and losses.
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The selloff extends a widespread market rout that has rattled Wall Street and raised concerns about when the bleeding will stop. Trump has cautioned that tariffs could cause “a little disturbance,” and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said last week that “the fact that the stock market goes down half a percent or percent, it goes up half a percent or percent, that is not the driving force of our outcomes.”
The morning decline comes on the heels of a steep selloff on Monday that saw the Dow tumble 890 points and the S&P 500 shed 2.7%. The benchmark index closed down 8.6% from its record high in February, nearing correction territory.
Trump in an interview with Fox News on Sunday declined to rule out the possibility of a recession, contributing to investor anxiety.
“Extreme fear” has been the sentiment driving investors for the past two weeks, according to CNN’s Fear and Greed Index, stoked by the uncertainty caused by Trump’s back-and-forth tariff announcements.
This is a developing story and will be updated.