US stocks open with huge losses after imposition of reciprocal tariffs

​​​​​​​By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US stocks opened with losses Thursday after US President Donald Trump announced his long-awaited reciprocal tariffs after the markets closed.

Trump called his plan "kind" as the rates will be half of other countries' tariff rates on the US.

“We will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us,” Trump said in a news conference at the White House. “So, the tariffs will be not a full reciprocal.”

That figure includes “the combined rate of all their tariffs, non-monetary barriers and other forms of cheating,” he said.

Trump also confirmed a 25% auto tariffs and said they will take effect Thursday.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1,528.6 points, or 3.62%, to 40,696.72 as of 10.46 a.m. EDT (1446GMT).

The S&P 500 was down 236.63 points, or 4.21%, to 5,431.54. The Nasdaq Composite lost 972.98 points, or 5.51%, to 16,628.51.

After the tariff announcements, companies with global supply chains and those that are highly dependent on imports and technology companies saw a sharp decline in shares.

Apple's fell about 8% and Nike was off 10 %. Microsoft started the day with sharp losses of about 3%, Nvidia 5%, Amazon and Meta about 7%. Alphabet and Tesla saw about 3% in selloffs.

The US foreign trade deficit fell 6.1% monthly to $122.7 billion in February, easing from a record deficit in January.

The VIX volatility index, referred to as the "fear index," jumped to 27.28.

The US dollar index lost 2.3% to 101.44, while the euro rose 2.53% against the dollar, trading at $1.1122.