Stocks fell sharply on Monday afternoon after President Trump affirmed tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, dashing investors’ hopes of a last-minute reprieve and intensifying concern that the sweeping tariffs could hit corporate profits and fuel inflation.
The S&P 500 fell 1.8 percent, the index’s biggest daily drop this year. The technology-heavy Nasdaq fell 2.6 percent, nearly crossing the threshold for the index to be in a “correction,” defined as a sell-off of more than 10 percent from a recent peak. The Nasdaq is now just over 9 percent below its high in mid-December.
The afternoon slump in the markets followed Mr. Trump’s statement at the White House on Monday that he would move forward on Tuesday with broad 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, the United States’ two biggest trading partners. Mr. Trump has also said he would impose an additional 10 percent tariff on goods from China, on top of the 10 percent that took effect last month.
Investors fear that the tariffs will raise prices in the United States, pushing the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates elevated for longer and risking tipping the economy into a downturn.
Monday’s sell-off came after the stock market had already lost some of its shine in February. The S&P 500 ended about 1.4 percent lower for the month, as the Trump administration’s policy priorities and weak consumer sentiment made investors uneasy.
On Monday, the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies, which are typically more exposed to the ebb and flow of the economy, fell 3.1 percent, pushing further into its own correction; the index is down more than 14 percent since it peaked in late November. The Vix volatility index, also known as Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” rose sharply to 24 points, before easing to around 22, still above its long-term average.
Mr. Trump’s comments on tariffs extended the stock market’s declines from earlier in the day, when a February reading for a key manufacturing index came in weaker than investors had expected, a sign of slower growth in the sector.