Photo: VCG

Following the announcement of US President Donald Trump's sweeping new tariffs,MKsports US stock markets have been rattled for two consecutive days.

Amid widespread opposition, Trump announced a sweeping "reciprocal" tariff policy on Wednesday, setting a baseline tariff of 10 percent on all imported goods, with higher tariffs on many countries, as reported by US media. 

US stocks were battered by a steep sell-off Friday after China retaliated against the US for Trump's tariffs, CNN reported.

The Dow plunged by 2,231 points, or 5.5 percent. The broader S&P 500 was 5.97 percent lower. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was 5.82 percent lower. The Nasdaq closed in a bear market for the first time since 2022, down more than 20% from its record high in December, CNN reported.

According to CNN, the Dow closed in correction, down more than 10 percent from its record high in December. It is the first time the Dow has closed in correction since March 7, 2022, according to Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. The Dow posted its biggest back-to-back losses since March 2020.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday that Trump's tariff policy will hike prices and slow economic growth, and "it is now becoming clear that the tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected."

Policy changes implemented by the White House have contributed to a "highly uncertain outlook," Powell said, making the remarks as stocks plummeted amid an escalating global trade war, as reported by ABC News.

While the Fed has not issued a US recession forecast, Powell noted that outside analysts have increased their recession probabilities.

"While tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation, it's also possible the effects will be more persistent," Powell told the audience at the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing conference in Washington.

Trump is also facing mounting opposition from Republican senators over his sweeping plan to impose steep tariffs on nearly 200 countries, including the US' biggest trading partners and allies, Newsweek reported.

More than half a dozen Senate Republicans have pushed back on the president's tariffs so far. "Tariffs are a tax on consumers, and I'm not a fan of jacking up taxes on American consumers," Senator Ted Cruz of Texas told Fox Business.

Joshua Blank, who runs the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas in Austin, told Newsweek that the state will likely "feel more pain than most" other states as a result of Trump's tariffs because of the critical role that foreign trade plays in its economy.

Following the sweeping tariffs on imported goods, Americans have been also busy "adding to cart," according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

A 22-year-old public-policy major at Southern Methodist University said that the tariff news has been the talk of the campus - especially for its potential impact on alcohol prices - and that she and her friends have been watching the stock market and worrying about the economy they are set to graduate into.

Economists said tariffs will likely raise prices consumers pay for produce, clothing, electronics, cars and many other goods, according to WSJ.

US billionaire Mark Cuban also took to the social media platform Bluesky to remind his followers that it's time to start stocking up on Thursday. "It's not a bad idea to go to the local Walmart or big box retailer and buy lots of consumables now. From toothpaste to soap, anything you can find storage space for, buy before they have to replenish inventory."

"Even if it's made in the USA, they will jack up the price and blame it on tariffs," Cuban said in the post.

At supermarkets and electronics stores, some customers seemed to be heeding Cuban's advice, lugging packed carts through parking lots, according to WSJ. Others went about their day-to-day shopping, saying they would deal with price increases if and when they started showing up on the shelves.

Global Times