Layoffs, price hikes tank markets

CNBC’s senior economics reporter Steve Liesman and on-air editor Rick Santelli held an impromptu debate about the impact of Trump’s tariffs on global trade.

The spirited exchange on “Squawk Box” followed an appearance from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Watch the full exchange below:

Stellantis is idling production at two assembly plants in Canada and Mexico due to tariffs.

Roughly 900 U.S- represented employees at supporting plants will be temporarily laid off in addition to roughly 4,500 hourly workers at the Canadian plant. Workers at the plant in Mexico will still report to the plant but not produce vehicles due to their contract terms, according to a company spokeswoman.

The downtime starts Monday and will last for two weeks at the automaker’s Windsor Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada, and the entire month of April at its Toluca Assembly Plant in Mexico.

“We are continuing to assess the medium- and long-term effects of these tariffs on our operations, but also have decided to take some immediate actions, including temporarily pausing production at some of our Canadian and Mexican assembly plants,” said Antonio Filosa, Stellantis North American chief.

— Michael Wayland and Michele Luhn

Vice President JD Vance argued that Trump’s trade agenda, coupled with its deregulatory efforts and tax-cut plans, will ultimately bring down prices.

But “we’re not going to fix things overnight,” he said in a Fox News interview Thursday morning when asked if costs will go up and for how long.

He framed the situation as one in which the Trump administration was tasked with fixing “what was left to us” by the Biden administration.

“You don’t fix that stuff overnight. We know people are struggling. We’re fighting as quickly as we can to fix what was left to us, but it’s not going to happen immediately,” Vance said.

Many economists warn that Trump’s sweeping tariff policies will raise prices and lower growth, and even some administration officials have acknowledged the import duties will cause at least temporary economic disruption.

— Kevin Breuninger

Tariffs and economic uncertainty are threatening to slow construction of new hotels by driving up building-material costs, Baird’s hotel analyst says.

The cost to build in the U.S. could now be as much as 10% higher because of tariffs, particularly on materials that are largely imported from China and Vietnam, Baird hotel analyst Michael Bellisario wrote. Construction of new hotels was already strained compared with before the pandemic because of higher costs and interest rates.

“Signings and starts could slow over the near term given heightened macroeconomic and trade policy uncertainties; projects’ opening dates are likely to slip as well, in our view,” he said in his Thursday note, adding that Hilton, Marriott, and Choice Hotels International are the most exposed to U.S. construction headwinds.

Hotel stocks were all sharply lower in morning trading, and airline stocks, already battered this year, also fell. United, was down more than 12% while American and Delta were each down more than 8%. Tariffs and economic weakness could add to both leisure and corporate bookings, while duties are set to drive up the cost of new aircraft.

— Leslie Josephs

Trump’s son Eric Trump says that the first countries to negotiate a trade deal with his father “will win,” as he warned the world not to be among the last nations to cut such a deal.

“I wouldn’t want to be the last country that tries to negotiate a trade deal with @realDonaldTrump,” Eric wrote in a tweet.

“The first to negotiate will win – the last will absolutely lose. I have seen this movie my entire life,” he wrote.

But Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box,” brushed aside the idea of countries winning exemptions from new tariffs on some products.

“I don’t think the word exemption is going to be a factor. I don’t think that’s such a thing,” Lutnick said. “I think what there’s going to be is a world of fairness. Let’s go try to figure out ways for the world to treat us more fairly and more properly.”

– Dan Mangan

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick brushed aside the idea that some imports from certain countries will win exemptions from the new U.S. tariffs.

“I don’t think the word exemption is going to be a factor. I don’t think that’s such a thing,” Lutnick said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

“I think what there’s going to be is a world of fairness. Let’s go try to figure out ways for the world to treat us more fairly and more properly,” he said.

The Commerce chief also said other countries would be making a mistake if they impose their own reciprocal tariffs on the United States in retaliation.

“I don’t think it’s effective in the world to retaliate,” Lutnick said. “I mean, those things are silly.“

New tariffs will raise the price of shoes that Americans buy and lead to cheaper quality merchandise, says a major trade group.

Trump’s tariff policy “is catastrophic for American families,” said Matt Priest, CEO of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America.

The massive new import duties will hit footwear producing nations like Vietnam and China especially hard.

“Our industry is already dealing with inflationary pressures, and this move will force families to think twice before making a purchase,” Priest said in a statement.

The tariffs will “drive-up costs, reduce product quality, and weaken consumer confidence,” he added.

Nearly 100% of all footwear is imported to the U.S., according to the group. About 37% of footwear imports came from China in 2023, followed by about 30% from Vietnam, nearly 9% from Italy and 8% from Indonesia, according to data from the U.S. International Trade Commission.

— Melissa Repko

Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman wrote on X, “Sometimes the best strategy in a negotiation is convincing the other side that you are crazy.”

Ackman, who endorsed Trump in the 2024 election, is a frequent defender of the president on social media.

He argued in a prior X post Wednesday that other countries should not retaliate against the new U.S. tariffs.

— Kevin Breuninger

Citing a “changing economy” and its position as the the No. 1 U.S. producer of cars and trucks, Ford said it’s putting most of its vehicles on sale.

The automaker is offering employee pricing to all U.S. customers from April 3 to June 2.

The promotion excludes the some large vehicles like the Ford Raptor, the 2025 Expedition and Navigator SUVs and Super Duty trucks.

“We understand that these are uncertain times for many Americans,” the company said in a statement. “We have the retail inventory to do this and a lot of choice for customers that need a vehicle.”

U.S. auto sales in the first quarter came in higher than expected as consumers flocked to buy cars ahead of auto tariffs taking effect, which many expect will lead to higher vehicle prices.

— Michele Luhn

The White House Wednesday listed tariff rates for 180 countries that, in most cases, were roughly half of what the Trump administration claims each country has “charged” the U.S.

It didn’t take long for market observers to try and reverse engineer the formula — to confusing results.

Many observers said the U.S. appeared to have divided the trade deficit by imports from a given country to arrive at tariff rates for individual countries.

Such methodology doesn’t necessarily align with the conventional approach to calculate tariffs and would imply the U.S. would have only looked at the trade deficit in goods and ignored trade in services.

The U.S. also appeared to have applied a 10% levy for regions where it is running a trade surplus.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has since laid out its approach, including a formula, on its website which appeared somewhat similar to the online chatter, barring a few differences.

Read the full story here.

— Neelabh Chaturvedi, Asriel Chua

Trump quickly declared his “reciprocal” tariff rollout a success.

“THE OPERATION IS OVER!” Trump wrote in an all-caps Truth Social post.

“THE PATIENT LIVED, AND IS HEALING. THE PROGNOSIS IS THAT THE PATIENT WILL BE FAR STRONGER, BIGGER, BETTER, AND MORE RESILIENT THAN EVER BEFORE. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”

The new tariffs have not yet taken effect.

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump’s 25% auto tariffs are in effect, but the impacts of the new levies could take years to unfold.

The tariffs are on any vehicles imported into the U.S., but even if final assembly takes place domestically, autos are made up of thousands of parts that are sourced from all around the world.

That means the industry is watching and waiting to see what happens with potential upcoming tariffs on auto parts.

In the near term, auto industry investors should expect continued volatility in automaker and supplier stocks, according to Wall Street analysts.

Read more about how the auto tariffs will affect individual vehicles and automakers here.

— Michael Wayland and Michele Luhn