Dow craters by 2,231 points as Trump tariffs stir stock sell-off

The stock market cratered Friday as concerns about the economic impact of President Trump’s new tariffs shook Wall Street for yet another day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with a loss of 2,231 points Friday, plunging 5.5 percent on the day. The S&P 500 index plummeted by 6 percent, and the Nasdaq composite sank 5.8 percent on the day.

Friday marked the second day of serious losses for the stock market since Trump's Wednesday afternoon announcement of up to $600 billion in new import taxes. The scale and scope of Trump's tariffs shocked investors, who had already been selling off stocks in anticipation of a global slowdown.

The Dow is now down roughly 15 percent from a record high of 45,073 set in December, the S&P 500 is down 17.4 percent from a record high set in February and the Nasdaq is down a staggering 23 percent from its December closing record.

Trump on Truth Social earlier on Friday said investors should buy low in the market and has expressed continued confidence in his agenda.

While several of his officials defended his policies publicly on Friday, Trump has not offered a public comment. He is in Florida and was on the golf course Friday.

“We’re feeling good. Look, I frankly thought, in some ways, it could be worse on the markets, because this is a big transition,” Vice President Vance told Newsmax in an interview Thursday.

“We have to remember that for 40 years, American economic policy has rewarded people who ship jobs overseas. It’s taxed our workers, it’s made our supply chains more brittle and it’s made our country less prosperous, less free and less secure.”

Critics of Trump's tariffs have said the president is endangering the broader economy while taking a huge bite out of ordinary Americans' retirement savings.

They also say the tariffs will lead to inflation.

“President Trump’s tariff tax is raising costs for Americans and creating economic uncertainty. The erratic way these tariffs have been announced, un-announced, and re-announced has made it difficult for families and businesses to plan for the future," Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said in a Friday statement.

Klobuchar is the co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill introduced this week to give Congress more power over federal trade policy.

The stock selloff continued despite a strong March jobs report, which was released Friday before markets opened and showed unexpectedly strong employment growth.

The U.S. economy added 228,000 jobs in March and the unemployment rate stayed roughly even at 4.2 percent, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department, far better than the 135,000 jobs economists expected to see, according to consensus projections.

The jobs data, however, did little to calm worries about the future.

"The potential for outright fall in jobs is rising. Households are worried about the hit to spending power from tariffs, the chart below shows they are also worried about potentially losing their jobs. Government austerity set to be increasingly noticed and equity markets are sliding leading to the conclusion that sentiment is undoubtedly souring," James Knightley, chief international economist at AIG, wrote in a Friday analysis.

Trump also piled onto Wall Street's concerns Friday by criticizing the Federal Reserve and its chair, Jerome Powell, as stocks cratered.

Trump ripped Powell on Truth Social shortly before the Fed chief was set to deliver remarks to a business journalism conference, urging him to cut rates and accusing him of playing politics with the economy.

“This would be a PERFECT time for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut Interest Rates. He is always ‘late,’ but he could now change his image, and quickly,” Trump wrote Friday.

“A BIG WIN for America. CUT INTEREST RATES, JEROME, AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS!” Trump wrote.

Minutes later, Powell warned that the scope and scale of Trump’s new reciprocal tariffs were greater — and potentially more costly — than anticipated.

“While uncertainty remains elevated, it is now becoming clear that the tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected. The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth,” Powell said.

“While tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation, it is also possible that the effects could be more persistent. Avoiding that outcome would depend on keeping longer-term inflation expectations well anchored, on the size of the effects, and on how long it takes for them to pass through fully to prices.”

This story was first posted at 10:29 a.m. EDT and last updated at 4:35 p.m.