Wall Street’s main indices opened lower on Monday as tariff tensions kept investors on edge. Meanwhile, Tesla shares slid after CEO Elon Musk announced his plans to launch a political party. In the early hours of trading, The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab fell 97.7 points, or 0.22%, at 44,730.83. The S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab fell 19.3 points, or 0.30%, at the open to 6,259.88, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab dropped 104.8 points, or 0.51%, to 20,493.36.
As the Trump tariff deadline approaches, global markets remain on edge. The anxiety follows Trump’s announcement in April of a 90-day pause on his steepest tariffs, introduced under his controversial “Liberation Day” plan, which had initially sent markets into a tailspin. The Trump administration has made it clear, countries that fail to finalise trade deals with the United States by the deadline will face higher tariffs. However, confusion still surrounds which nations will be affected and how severe the penalties will be. Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump said he plans to begin sending letters this week to individual countries, informing them of their new tariff rates. He also hinted that trade agreements had been concluded with “most countries,” though he declined to name any specifically. “We’ll send a letter or finalise a deal for most countries by Wednesday,” he said.
In a separate interview with CNN, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed that any country failing to strike a deal by the deadline would be hit with elevated tariffs starting August 1. Bessent also clarified that there has been no change to the deadline, stating that tariffs would “boomerang back” to the levels originally proposed on April 2. However, mixed signals from Trump are fueling further uncertainty. While his “Liberation Day” plan had outlined a maximum tariff rate of 50 percent, Trump floated the possibility of raising tariffs as high as 70 percent during a press conference on Friday.
Adding to the volatility, Trump on Sunday issued a new warning, threatening an additional 10 percent tariff on nations that align with what he called the “anti-American policies” of the BRICS bloc. BRICS, which originally included Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has since expanded to include other emerging economies, drawing Trump’s ire. With just hours left before the deadline, markets are bracing for impact as the world waits to see how far Trump will go—and which countries will find themselves in the crosshairs.