Wall Street Loses about $1.7 Trillion amid Trump’s Sweeping Tariffs

The US stock market lost nearly $1.7 trillion at the opening of trading on Thursday, according to Bloomberg calculations, amid fears that the US economy could be pushed into recession by new sweeping tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump.

The tariffs hit companies whose supply chains rely heavily on overseas manufacturing hardest. 

Shares of Apple, which manufactures most of its US-made devices in China, fell 7.7% at the opening. Shares of Lululemon Athletica and Nike, among companies with manufacturing ties to Vietnam, also fell at least 9%.

Moreover, Shares of Walmart and Dollar Tree, two retailers whose stores are stocked with products imported from outside the US, also fell at least 4%.

Few stocks on Wall Street were spared the fallout. More than 90% of S&P 500 companies were trading lower, with more than half of its stocks down at least 2% in pre-opening trading.

This comes after the White House unveiled a 10% base tariff rate on all countries, effective April 5. Higher tariffs will be imposed on countries that impose higher tariffs on the United States in the coming days, according to the administration.

"We're going to charge them about half of what they charge us," Trump said at a press conference in the White House Rose Garden. "So it's not going to be exactly reciprocal."

He added that this lower figure includes "the total rate of all their tariffs, non-monetary barriers, and other forms of fraud."

These tariffs will ultimately be much higher than investors in many countries had anticipated. For example, the White House explained to CNBC that China's effective tariff rate will now be 54% when factoring in the new reciprocal rate and existing tariffs. Traders had hoped that the 10% to 20% rate would be a maximum.

US assets were the biggest losers after the tariff announcement, with stock index futures falling more than 3.3% and the dollar index declining.

Among the world's most valuable companies, Apple shares fell by 8.87% during the trading session so far, Microsoft shares fell by 2.78%, Nvidia by 7.08%, Amazon by 9.05%, Alphabet by 4.11%, Meta by 8.30%, Berkshire Hathaway by 1.05%, and Tesla by 7.30%, according to CompaniesMarketCap data.