Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs Shock Stock Market, Stellantis Idles Car Production in Canada and Mexico

President Donald Trump made good on a promise to enact sweeping reciprocal tariffs as part of his “liberation day” announcement on April 2, with said tariffs targeting more than 180 nations across the globe, as CNBC reported.

In the immediate aftermath of the move, stock markets fell precipitously. According to CNN, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled by 1,617 points (3.8%) on April 3. The Nasdaq, rife with tech-related listings, plunged by 5.8%, while the S&P 500 fell by 4.65%, both reaching the lowest point since September of last year.

The damage to markets wasn’t limited to U.S.-based indexes, either. Europe’s STOXX 600 index ticked downward by 2.57%, and Germany’s DAX trended down by 3%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 shed 2.77% of its value, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell by 1.52%.

Corporations seeing significant losses included Apple (down $300 billion in valuation between market close on April 2 and market open on April 3), which was down 10% as of 3:47 p.m. ET; Nike, which was down 13.52%; Best Buy, down 17.88%; and Ralph Lauren, down 16.3%.

Business Roundtable CEO Joshua Bolten, cited by CNN, warned of the dangers posed by Trump’s tariffs.

“Universal tariffs ranging from 10-50% run the risk of causing major harm to American manufacturers, workers, families and exporters,” Bolten said in a statement.

“Damage to the U.S. economy will increase the longer the tariffs are in place and may be exacerbated by retaliatory measures,” he continued.

Former Trump Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in an interview with CNBC, expressed hope that the current 10% baseline tariffs on a host of other nations could be negotiated downward in the immediate future.

“I do hope there’s the ability to negotiate them down, because, as we’ve seen for certain businesses, it is going to take a long time to move that manufacturing base,” Mnuchin said.

“And we’ve seen the stock market, particularly in certain stocks, react pretty negatively,” he added.

Stellantis Idles Production Plants in Canada, Mexico Due to Trump Tariffs, Triggering Temporary Layoffs

In related news, automaker Stellantis announced the idling of two production plants in Canada and Mexico as a result of the president’s tariff policy, particularly the 25% tariff imposed on imported vehicles taking effect on April 3.

Per a separate CNBC report, Stellantis is pressing pause on production at the Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada, as well as at the Toluca Assembly Plant in Mexico.

As a result, about 900 U.S.-represented employees will see temporary layoffs, in addition to about 4,500 Canadian hourly workers.

Stellantis North American chief Antonio Filosa issued an email to workers on April 3, indicating that the downtime was directly connected to the instituted tariffs.

“We are continuing to assess the medium- and long-term effects of these tariffs on our operations, but also have decided to take some immediate actions, including temporarily pausing production at some of our Canadian and Mexican assembly plants,” Filosa wrote.

“Those actions will impact some employees at several of our U.S. powertrain and stamping facilities that support those operations,” he added.