Tariff pain has returned for the stock market

Fri, Aug 1, 2025, 5:37 PM 5 min read

• After weeks of cheering progress on trade, investors are dismayed by what August 1 has brought.

• Trump signed a list of updated tariffs on Thursday and said it was "too late" for nations to avoid the duties.

• Major indexes dropped on Friday, while Treasury yields dropped.

President Donald Trump's "GREAT DAY" for America is finally here — but markets aren't cheering the latest news on the trade war.

Following weeks of encouraging updates on trade deals with major partners, US stocks dropped Friday after the president signaled he would stick to his August 1 deadline for tariff negotiations and signed an executive order that included an updated slate of taxes on imports.

The sell-off gained steam as investors took in a weaker-than-expected US jobs report. The economy added 73,000 jobs in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, lower than the 100,000 payrolls economists expected.

Treasury yields tumbled after the report, with the 10-year bond yield falling 10 basis points to 4.25%. The jobs data recalibrated expectations for rate cuts in September for the second time this week.

After the odds of a cut at the next meeting dwindled following Jerome Powell's cautious tone on the economy midweek, markets again revised the outlook.

According to the CME FedWatch Tool, traders now see a 67% chance of a 25-basis-point cut in September, up from less than 50% on Wednesday.

Here's where US indexes stood around 10:30 a.m ET. on Friday:

• S&P 500: 6,256.82, down 1.77%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 43,629, down 1.16% (-512.98 points)

• Nasdaq composite: 20,783.88, down 1.61%

Trump's update to tariffs, which were announced in an executive order Trump signed Thursday evening, imposed import duties ranging from 10%-41%.

The order added that goods that are transhipped in a bid to avoid tariffs — swapping hands between other nations before coming to the US — will also be subject to a 40% tariff.

Some nations saw their updated tariff rates lowered from what Trump initially proposed, despite not yet coming to a trade agreement with the US. Taiwan, India, and Malaysia were among those that saw a slight tariff reduction. Some countries, like Brazil and Switzerland, saw their tariff rate increase.

Speaking to NBC News late Thursday, Trump said it was "too late" for nations to avoid the tariffs, but suggested that the door remained open to trade deals down the road. The updates are set to swing into effect on August 7, instead of the August 1 deadline Trump initially proposed and promoted as a "GREAT DAY FOR AMERICA" in a post on Truth Social earlier this week