Stocks sell off as traders realize Trump’s new tariff options could be ‘highly punitive’

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At first glance, ending the tariffs looked broadly good for stocks because it makes international trade easier and cheaper for companies. Unsurprisingly, the S&P 500 closed up 0.69% on Friday. But after Trump said he would propose new tariffs of 10%, and then changed his mind and made it 15%, analysts began to realize that some of the things Trump might do next could be more extreme than his “Liberation Day” tariffs, and will certainly be more complex. As UBS’s Paul Donovan put it, “Welcome back uncertainty.” BNP analyst William Bratton published a research note summarising Trump’s options. “Some of…