US Stocks Plunge: Dow Sheds 650 Points Amid Trump Tariff Worries

US stocks plummeted quickly on Monday, taking away most of the gains made in the wake of the election of President Donald Trump's election in the wake of his announcement the Trump tariffs on Canada and Mexico will be in effect within hours.

The S&P 500 fell 1.8 percent after Trump's announcement of "no room left" for negotiations to reduce the tariffs that will be in effect on Tuesday. This shattered Wall Street's hopes for more lenient trade policy.

The market's losses on Monday slashed the S&P 500's gains following the election to a little over 1 percent, down from a high of over 6 percent. The market was gaining in anticipation the Trump's policy would help the economy, however recent trade tensions as well as economic data have raised concerns of a slowdown. In the end, Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 649 points which is 1.5 percent, and the Nasdaq composite sank 2.6 percentage.

The market slump came amid general concerns over US economic expansion. A report released by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Monday found manufacturing activity was still growing, though slower than what economists had anticipated.

What are they saying?

Wall Street had anticipated that Trump could make use of the tariffs to leverage negotiations instead of imposing the rules. But the decision to move forward was a shock to investors who were already wary of the economic uncertainty.

"Markets were looking for another 11th-hour deal to further delay tariffs, but aren't going to get one this time," said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group.

Certain stocks and sectors were particularly hit. Nvidia dropped 8.8 percent, while Tesla dropped 2.8 percent. Retail giant Kroger fell 3% following its CEO and Chairman Rodney McMullen resigned following an internal investigation into his conduct.