The hosts of CNBC’s Squawk Box tore into President Donald Trump after he threatened new tariffs against Apple and Europe, sending the global stock market cratering.
“You can see that it’s been a bad morning at the White House in terms of thinking these negotiations are getting somewhere,” observed co-host Becky Quick, jabbing Trump for his much-touted trade deals that have yet to materialize.
Co-host Andrew Ross Sorkin was in agreement. “Well, that’s always been the big question. Everyone said we can have all these deals—we still haven’t seen just about any of them.”
As of 1 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 242 points, or 0.5 percent, while the S&P 500 was off 38 points, or 0.6 percent.
In April, Trump decided to back off just weeks after announcing “reciprocal” tariffs on every major American trading partner. His change of heart came as stocks plummeted and he struggled to land trade deals with other countries.
On Friday, Trump reignited his tariff offensive. He first called out Apple—demanding that they start manufacturing iPhones in the U.S. (“not India, or anyplace else”) or face a 25 percent tax.
The president then turned his attention to the European Union, which he accused of “taking advantage of the United States” with trade barriers.
“Our discussions with them are going nowhere!” Trump admitted. “Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50 percent Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025.”
As the CNBC anchors pointed out, the European and American markets have not reacted positively to Trump’s tantrum.
“You can see that the FTSE in Italy is the biggest decliner of the European averages,” observed Quick. “It’s down by about 1.9 percent. And then here are the declines that you see in the United States. Dow futures down by 470 points. S&P futures off by 67. The NASDAQ down by close to 300.”
Quick also pointed to declining treasury yields, which can be an indicator for the future of the economy, and offered a dire analysis: “I guess that’s what would happen if you thought you were approaching a recession more rapidly.”
“Wow,” said co-host Joe Kernen, reacting to the latest treasury yield figures, which showed the 10-year rate at at 4.46 percent.
Trump’s Friday fit came after Apple announced last month that it would shift its production to India from China, which was the only country on which Trump maintained sky-high tariffs after mostly rolling the taxes back.
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