President Donald Trump’s tariffs against major trading partners such as Canada, China and Mexico are having an effect on the stock market.
Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq (NAZ-DACK) Composite are considered the most popular U.S. indexes. All three dropped following news yesterday that Trump raised tariffs on global steel and aluminum imports to 25%.
Dow Jones fell 1.14%, S&P 0.76%, and Nasdaq Composite 0.18, respectively.
Investors are shaken up by the stock market losing $4 trillion in value and fear that it indicates an impending recession.
USC students shared some of their thoughts during a week of nervousness for all those involved in the stock market.
Cindy Nguyen, a senior majoring in Business Administration, sees the drop in stocks as an indicator of the state of the economy and how it will change moving forward.
“It does concern me a lot, and especially with all the new policies in place, like there has been talks about grocery prices rising, and I think it’s going to really affect all of us,” said Nguyen.
Amith Venkatesh, a Master of Health Administration student at Price, is extremely concerned about the recent stock fluctuations.
“I mean sudden, sudden drops, like could affect the economy, supply chains, logistics, and it’s quite scary,” said Venkatesh. “Because, like, you know, stock market drops, the housing and, just like financial security within the American people, quite concerning.”
Venkatesh feels confident that the administration has a plan to deal with the repercussions of the stock market dropping.
“I do feel it will bounce back and I’m sure the government will do something to make sure it is not drastically dropped in us still maintains that powerful hegemony across the world,” said Venkatesh.
Idean Azari, who is in the Master of Science Program for Business Analytics, is a bit worried about the drop but has slight optimism for what lies ahead.
“I believe that this is a good buying opportunity, and I feel like people should be buying right now, but that’s the thing a lot of people don’t have money to buy right now, especially me,” said Azari.
What direction does he think the stock market will go in?
“I believe that the drop will continue for a little bit longer, but it’s going to eventually have to bounce back up,” said Azari. “I haven’t sold anything, so I haven’t lost actually yet, but hopefully this doesn’t carry on so I can sell my shit, sell my things soon.”
Talks of a worsening economy continue to increase as Trump continues an aggressive stance on trade. Wall Street’s stock market forecasts continue to indicate a rocky path ahead and thoughts of trade wars as a result of the President’s fluctuating tariff policies are not out of the question.