Trump's New Tariffs May Be Narrower Than Feared

President Trump still plans to unveil a new round of tariffs on April 2, but they're now expected to be less severe than initially feared, reports the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. The new reports have buoyed investors, and US markets are expected to open with a jump. Dow futures were up well over 300 points, nearly 1%, notes CNBC, while the benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-focused Nasdaq were up more than 1% in futures trading. Markets in Europe and China rose on Monday as well.

The president is moving ahead with new retaliatory tariffs against major trading partners as part of what the White House is calling "Liberation Day" for the US. On Friday, however, Trump himself hinted at some flexibility in the details, and it now appears that the White House won't impose tariffs on specific sectors such as automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors as planned.

Bloomberg notes that the reciprocal tariffs still going into place against major trading partners or blocs "would remain a very significant expansion of US tariffs," and the Journal similarly notes that they could raise tariffs on those partners "to levels not seen in decades." But the markets—which snapped a four-week losing streak last week—were happy that they won't include the sector-specific penalties. (More tariffs stories.)