U.S. stock futures dropped sharply on Sunday evening as markets continued to signal a sell-off in the wake of President Trump’s massive reciprocal tariffs on trading partners.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down more than 1,700 points on Sunday evening at 6 p.m., pointing to what could be a disastrous day on Wall Street when markets open Monday morning at 9:30 a.m. The Dow futures had recovered some of those losses later in the evening. After 10 p.m., the futures were down just under 900 points.
The Dow and other markets already suffered through a brutal Thursday and Friday as they took in President Trump’s tariff regime, and the prospect of retaliation from other countries. The Dow lost nearly 4,000 points over those two days.
CNBC host Jim Cramer even warned of the possibility that an event similar to “Black Monday” could occur, a reference to the market collapse of 1987, if Trump sticks to his tariff plans. That event saw the Dow drop 22.6 percent in one day.
“If the president doesn’t try to reach out and reward these countries and companies that play by the rules, then the 1987 scenario … the one where we went down three days and then down 22 percent on Monday, has the most cogency,” Cramer said on his show Saturday, per the New York Post.
Trump administration officials on Sunday sought to defend the president’s tariffs as anxiety over the economy grows.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett in a Sunday interview on ABC’s “This Week” insisted the massive tariffs won’t have a “big effect on the consumer in the U.S.,” while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” described the tariffs as a “one-time price adjustment.”
Trump has defended the tariffs, announced Wednesday and imposed a day later, saying other countries have been ripping off the United States for decades while presidents in both parties have not done enough to defend U.S. workers and manufacturers.
He has suggested people should buy into the market at the lower price while generally shrugging off the losses, noting that markets go up and down.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) told Chris Stirewalt, the host of “The Hill Sunday,” that while ultimately he wants “zero tariffs,” Trump needs to protect U.S. farmers and manufacturers.
The administration has offered mixed signals on how long the tariffs are to be in place.
Several officials on Sunday indicated that countries are rushing to negotiate with the administration to lower the tariff burden they face.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the Washington area on Sunday evening and is expected to ask about the 17 percent tariff imposed on his country’s exports to its greatest ally.
Yet Trump officials at times have also indicated that the tariffs are here to stay, claiming they are necessary to rebuild the U.S. manufacturing sector and re-shape the world trading system.
This story was updated at 10:19 p.m.
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