US President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs Wednesday, saying he would apply a minimum 10% levy on all exporters to the US. The Republican asserted that dozens of countries with the largest trade imbalances will face even higher rates. According to Trump, the European Union will be subject to a 20% levy, China a 34% rate and Vietnam a 46% tariff. Alluding to how much if not most of the administration’s threats and implementation of tariffs is a negotiating gambit, Trump, 78, indicated he would consider lowering rates if other nations remove trade barriers on US exports. The stock market plummeted in late trading on the news.

Trump holds a poster during his tariff announcement on Wednesday in Washington. Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg

Trump’s escalating tariffs are expected to raise the cost of trillions of dollars in goods shipped annually to the US from other countries, with most economists predicting American consumers will be among the hardest hit as a result. Trump’s latest salvo also turbocharges the worldwide trade war he began, a conflict likely to be marked by tit-for-tat strikes that destabilize supply chains, stoke inflation and encourage more countries to form alliances that exclude America.

That dynamic presents a political problem for Trump, as his strategy may halt US economic growth in its tracks. And even if he’s eventually proven correct that his trade war will help re-industrialize the economy, that wouldn’t happen for a long time. In the interim, those Americans who elected him to lower inflation may very well find the opposite to be the case. —Jordan Parker Erb

Trade wars, tariff threats and logistics shocks are upending businesses and spreading volatility. Understand the new order of global commerce with the Supply Lines newsletter.

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Earlier, the S&P 500 rebounded after starting each day this week down significantly on fears of Trump’s looming announcement and slowing economic growth. But after Trump’s big reveal, investors went back to selling, setting off declines of 2% or more in equity benchmarks. A $577 billion exchange-traded fund tracking the S&P 500 fell about 2.5% after the close of regular trading, wiping out that initial rally. Traders across asset classes now must brace for what promises to be a grueling stretch of trade negotiations, against an economic backdrop that has shown signs of softening as companies and consumers adjust to Trump’s offensive. “Eye-watering tariffs on a country-by-country basis scream ‘negotiation tactic,’ which will keep markets on edge for the foreseeable future,” said Adam Hetts at Janus Henderson Investors. And while the movements of the stock market aren’t always clear, there is another culprit lurking beneath many of these gyrations in recent days and weeks: short-covering. Goldman Sachs’ basket of the most-shorted stocks is up 3.2% on Wednesday, beating the S&P 500’s gain. 

Tesla’s sales fell 13% last quarter to an almost three-year low. The company delivered 336,681 vehicles in the first three months of the year, its worst showing since the second quarter of 2022. Analysts on average expected it to sell more than 390,000 cars and trucks. The figures reflect the disruptions to Tesla’s business so far this year, including ongoing backlash against Elon Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration. Tesla shares tumbled as much as 6.4% before turning positive on a report from Politico that Musk will likely be stepping back from his government advisory role in the coming weeks, suggesting he could focus more on his auto company. (The White House denied that Musk is on his way out.) 

China is restricting local companies from investing in the US, a move that could give Beijing more leverage for potential trade negotiations with the Trump administration. Several branches of China’s top economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, have recently been instructed to hold off on registration and approval for firms that are looking to invest in the states. While there’s no sign that existing commitments by Chinese companies in the US and elsewhere—or China’s purchases and holdings of financial products including US Treasuries—would be affected, the new measures underscore heightened tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.

Hiring at US companies accelerated last month, with private-sector payrolls increasing by 155,000 in March, according to ADP Research. That’s above all but one estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The gains were driven by professional and business services, financial activities and manufacturing; manufacturing additions were the highest since October 2022 in ADP data. The figures add to other data pointing to stable demand for workers, including filings for unemployment benefits and this year’s fairly subdued layoff levels. That’s consistent with a labor market that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell described as a “low firing, low hiring situation” last month, and likely some welcome news for the Trump administration.

Goldman Sachs is expanding its private equity offering to wealthy individuals across Wall Street and beyond. It’s the latest sign of investment firms gradually broadening access to the much sought-after private markets. The bank is launching an open-ended private equity fund named G-PE, which will offer access to deals from its buyout, growth, secondary and co-investment strategies. It’s said that it will be offered to individuals with at least $5 million in investments across their portfolios. Goldman’s offering aims to challenge larger private-market rivals like Apollo, Blackstone and KKR, which are all trying to grow their assets by going after cash from both wealthy individual investors and institutions.

Amazon submitted a bid to the White House to purchase TikTok. Reported earlier by the New York Times, the offer is apparently not being considered seriously by the administration. Even if Amazon’s bid fails to gain traction inside the White House, the company’s interest could compel other suitors to pay more, which squeezes more money out of a potential rival. Being involved in negotiations could also give Amazon visibility into TikTok’s financial performance, including its TikTok Shop, a rising competitor to Amazon’s online retail business. Trump on Wednesday was slated to consider proposals for divesting TikTok’s US operations from its Chinese parent, ByteDance. Trump faces an April 5 deadline for ByteDance to find a buyer for TikTok’s US operations or see the app banned in the country, though he has said he would be willing to extend the deadline as necessary. Though passed by Congress, signed into law by then-President Joe Biden and even upheld by the US Supreme Court, Trump has ignored the federal statute banning TikTok in the US.

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