Stocks Slide After Trump Tweets

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NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 23: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on August 23, 2019 in New York City. The three major U.S. stock indexes ended lower, being their fourth consecutive week with some declines. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

The stock market is not crazy about diplomacy by tweet. From CNBC.

Stocks plunged on Friday after President Donald Trump ordered that U.S. manufacturers find alternatives to their operations in China. Apple led the way lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 623.34 points lower, or 2.4% at 25,628.90. The S&P 500 slid 2.6% to close at 2,847.11. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 3% to end the day at 7,751.77. The losses brought the Dow’s decline for August to more than 4%.

Trump reportedly became enraged after China announced retaliatory tariffs on American goods and Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, indicated he wouldn’t be dropping interest rates as much as Trump had hoped.

This led to a bizarre series of tweets where Trump “ordered” American manufacturers to find alternatives to China.

Meanwhile, after the markets closed, Trump announced he would be retaliating again, increasing tariffs on Chinese goods by 5%. From CNBC:

The White House will raise existing duties on $250 billion in Chinese products to 30% from 25% on Oct. 1, the president tweeted. The tariffs on another $300 billion in Chinese goods, which start to take effect on Sept. 1, will now be 15% instead of 10%, he added.