US stocks tumbled Tuesday as investors reacted to renewed tariff uncertainty, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average sliding 500 points at the open. In early trading, the Dow was down 555 points, or 1.2%. The S&P 500 dropped 56.3 points, or 1.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 1.7%.
Over the weekend, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., declared that most tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump under emergency powers were unlawful.
In a 7-4 decision, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said only Congress has the authority to enact such sweeping trade measures. Trump dismissed the ruling as “highly partisan” and vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Trump has cautioned that trillions of dollars in investment could vanish if American courts strike down his tariff policies. In a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed that the tariffs had helped secure over $15 trillion in pledged investment for the United States.
“If a Radical Left Court is allowed to terminate these Tariffs, almost all of this investment, and much more, will be immediately cancelled,” he wrote. Trump warned that lifting the tariffs could push the US toward becoming a “Third World Nation” and eliminate any chance of returning to “greatness.”
“More than 15 Trillion Dollars will be invested in the USA, a RECORD. Much of this investment is because of Tariffs. If a Radical Left Court is allowed to terminate these Tariffs, almost all of this investment, and much more, will be immediately cancelled! In many ways, we would become a Third World Nation, with no hope of GREATNESS again. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!!!”, reads Trump’s post on Truth Social.