Trump says he won't pause plans for tariffs; stocks close mostly down; Philly companies face market turbulence

Companies in the Philadelphia region didn't escape the turbulence of the stock market at closing Monday amid the impacts of President Donald Trump's tariffs nationwide.

Philadelphia-based home builder Toll Brothers saw its stock down 6.29% at closing time, making it among the area's hardest-hit companies and marking a 52-week low of 94.52.

Other local companies' stocks were also down at close after having seesawed throughout the day. Aramark, for example, ended the day down 2.52%, while DuPont closed down 2.32%. Campbell's was similarly down about 1.80%, and Conshohocken-based drug wholesale company Cencora had declined 1.43% at close.

Stocks ended another tumultuous day lower as markets reel from President Donald Trump’s latest threats to escalate his tariff fight. 

The S&P 500 sank 0.2% Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 349 points, or 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.1%. 

The Dow was earlier down as many as 1,700 points following even worse losses worldwide on worries that Trump’s tariffs could torpedo the global economy. 

Sen. Dave McCormick has encouraged patience with President Donald Trump's global tariffs, telling reporters after a Monday tour of a Pittsburgh-area manufacturing plant that Americans ought to "give it a little time."

"There's a lot of uncertainty right now," McCormick said, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "I think over the coming days and weeks a lot of that uncertainty will be eliminated and we’ll have more clarity."

McCormick commented on Trump's tariffs following a tour of Eos Energy Enterprises' plant in Allegheny County, where the company manufactures zinc-based batteries. A former Westinghouse Electric plant, the facility is undergoing a massive expansion funded largely by a $300 million federal loan from the Department of Energy secured under former President Joe Biden's administration, Pittsburgh-based NPR station 90.5 WESA reports.

President Donald Trump isn’t budging from imposing widespread tariffs across the globe, telling reporters at the Oval Office on Monday he’s “not looking at” pausing.

“We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us, and they’re going to be fair deals,” Trump said, “and in certain cases they’re going to be paying substantial tariffs.”

Trump doubled down on his threat to impose an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports if the country didn’t remove its own retaliatory tariffs. The move, which would go into effect tomorrow, would raise the effective tariff on goods imported into the U.S. from China to 104%.

Apple tumbled again on Monday after President Donald Trump threatened more tariffs against China.

China is the iPhone maker’s second-biggest market and home to the vast majority of its production and assembly.

In afternoon trading, Apple fell 3.2%, to $182.34 per share. That follows a combined decline of more than 16% on Thursday and Friday. Its shares are down more than 25% this year.

European markets continued their recent descent Monday, logging a third straight day of major losses.

Germany’s DAX index, which briefly fell more than 10% at the open on the Frankfurt exchange, recovered some ground and closed down 4.1%. In Paris, the CAC 40 shed 4.8%, while Britain’s FTSE 100 tumbled 4.4%.

Prior to last week, most indexes in Europe had enjoyed a resurgence after underperforming U.S. markets last year.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday said President Trump’s tariffs were a “huge challenge” for the U.K. and could have “profound” consequences for the global economy.

“But this moment has also made something very clear — that this is not a passing phase,” he said. “And just as we’ve seen with our national security, particularly over recent months in relation to the war in Ukraine, now with our commerce and trade, this is … a completely new world, an era where old assumptions, which we’ve long taken for granted, simply don’t apply any longer.”

Speaking to workers at a plant in the West Midlands that makes Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles for the export market, Starmer said his government would continue to try to negotiate a trade deal with the United States while championing free trade around the world.

President Donald Trump escalated his trade war against China Monday, threatening to impose an additional 50% tariff if the Asian country retaliates against the import taxes the United States imposed last week.

"[I]f China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading abuses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The White House confirmed to the New York Times the tariffs would be in addition to those already in place, which would raise the effective tax rate to 104% on imported goods from China.

U.S. financial markets rallied briefly Monday morning after reports surfaced on social media that President Donald Trump's administration was considering a 90-day pause on global tariffs put in place last week. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNBC reports of a possible tariff pause was "fake news."

Social media posts indicated Kevin Hassett, the director of the president’s National Economic Council, said Trump was considering a pause on tariffs on every country except China. But Hassert was on Fox News Monday morning and deflected when asked about a possible pause. 

Companies based in and around Philadelphia aren't being spared as Donald Trump's tariffs batter financial markets across the country.

Among the biggest losers are Toll Brothers, the Philadelphia home builder, which saw its stock price drop another 4.5% Monday morning. The company is down 9.3% after closing at 106.91 points Wednesday, before Trump's tariffs went into effect.

Other companies' stocks seesawed on Monday; DuPont and Lincoln Financial Group were also down more than 4% Monday morning, while Aramark stock had declined about 2.75% before turning positive.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the European Union is looking to do more business elsewhere in the world as President Trump’s tariffs hit international trade.

She said Monday that the EU is also setting up a task force to monitor any dumping on its markets that might happen as trade patterns change.

“We will focus like a laser beam on the 83% of global trade that is beyond the United States. Vast opportunities,” von der Leyen said. After deals already done with Mexico and Switzerland, she said, “we’re working on India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and many others.”

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says the Trump administration’s trade policies will likely result in higher prices for both imported and domestic goods and services, weighing on an already slowing U.S. economy.

In his annual letter to shareholders, released Monday, Dimon said the U.S. economy already faced a number of challenges: sticky inflation, geopolitical tensions, Federal Reserve policy including still-high interest rates and high fiscal deficits. Dimon also said that many stocks in the market have been priced too high.

The outspoken and influential CEO often comments on both domestic and international issues.

U.S. financial markets are set to open sharply down Monday, setting up for a third day of dramatic losses following President Donald Trump's global tariffs.

Financial markets in the U.S. open at 9:30 a.m. Here's where futures markets stood as of 8:45 a.m.:

In addition, U.S. oil prices look to fall below $60 a barrel for the first time since 2021 over fears of Trump's tariffs leading the global economy into a recession.

Billionaire Elon Musk has worked closely with President Donald Trump during the first few months of his second term, focusing on laying off thousands of government workers. But the Tesla and SpaceX CEO is distancing himself from the president's tariff plan.

During a conference call with a right-wing political party in Italy, Musk said the United States should move in the opposite direction of Trump's plan and push for a "zero tariff situation."

“Ideally, both Europe and the United States should move to a zero-tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America,” Musk said during the call. “If people wish to work in Europe or wish to work in North America, they should be allowed to do so in my view.”

Trump said Sunday that he wouldn't back down on his sweeping tariffs on imports from most of the world unless countries even out their trade with the United States.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he didn’t want global markets to fall, but also that he wasn’t concerned about the massive sell-off either, adding, “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”

His comments came as global financial markets appeared on track to continue sharp declines once trading resumes Monday, and after Trump’s aides sought to soothe market concerns by saying more than 50 nations had reached out about launching negotiations to lift the tariffs.

Global stock markets extended a severe plunge Monday, fueled by fears that U.S. tariffs would lead to a global economic slowdown. European and Asian shares saw dramatic losses, the leading U.S. index flirted with bear market territory in pre-market trading, and oil prices sagged.

The massive sell-off in riskier assets at the start of the trading week follows President Donald Trump’s announcement of sharply higher U.S. import taxes and retaliation from China that saw markets fall sharply Thursday and Friday.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost nearly 8% shortly after the market opened and futures trading for the benchmark was briefly suspended. It closed down 7.8% at 31,136.58.