Corporate America is scrambling to understand how President Trump’s tariffs will affect their businesses.
Early Tuesday, General Motors pulled its earnings guidance, saying tariffs had clouded the outlook, and reported that quarterly profit slid. JetBlue Airways also withdrew its forecast, and warned soft demand will likely continue this quarter. Meanwhile, UPS said it would cut 20,000 jobs and slash costs, a move its CEO said was timely given macroeconomic uncertainty.
The GM news created whiplash for investors, who on Monday had welcomed news that the president was likely to soften the impact of auto tariffs. Duties on cars wouldn’t stack on top of other levies, and some tariffs on foreign parts would be eased, The Wall Street Journal reported.
In a Tuesday morning press conference, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described President Trump’s trade policy as “strategic uncertainty” and said markets would gain clarity as the U.S. starts announcing deals. However, he declined to say whether the U.S. and China are in direct negotiations over tariffs, as the Chinese Foreign Ministry vowed in a social-media video posted Tuesday to “never kneel down” to Washington.
A consumer-sentiment survey showed the economic mood getting gloomier in April, while a separate report on March job openings showed that the U.S. job market looked healthy heading into this month’s tariff turmoil. Investors will be parsing other economic reports later this week for signs of the trade policy’s broader impact.
“While the market can take a breath from tariff news, I think the next leg will be about what it means for the economy,” said Megan Horneman, chief investment officer at Verdence Capital Advisors.
Stocks rose. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased more than 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 posted smaller gains.
Treasury yields fell. The 10-year yield dropped to about 4.18%, having settled Monday at 4.21%.
The dollar rose slightly, while gold prices fell, as demand for so-called haven assets eased.
European and Asian indexes mostly rose.
—By Ed Ballard and Hannah Erin Lang
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