Wall Street’s early rally lost steam and flipped into negative territory Tuesday afternoon after White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that President Donald Trump’s retaliatory 104% tariff on Chinese imports would take effect at 12:01 a.m. ET Wednesday.
Her remarks triggered a sharp deterioration in market sentiment and reignited fears of a global trade escalation.
By 2:15 p.m. ET, the S&P 500 – as tracked by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) – had slipped 0.3%, the Russell 2000 fell 1.3%, and the Nasdaq 100 was barely positive, up just 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average held onto a 0.3% gain, though upside momentum was fading fast.
What Triggered The Market Turnaround?
Leavitt’s remarks delivered clarity — and a hard deadline — for Trump’s escalating tariff campaign.
“There will be 104% tariffs going …