{"id":2399644,"date":"2025-04-03T17:06:11","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T21:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/?p=2399644"},"modified":"2025-04-03T17:52:57","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T21:52:57","slug":"wake-up-the-stock-market-is-crashing-layoffs-have-surged-more-than-200-percent-and-we-are-being-warned-a-depression-is-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/2025\/04\/03\/wake-up-the-stock-market-is-crashing-layoffs-have-surged-more-than-200-percent-and-we-are-being-warned-a-depression-is-coming\/","title":{"rendered":"Wake Up! The Stock Market Is Crashing, Layoffs Have Surged More Than 200 Percent, And We Are Being Warned A Depression Is Coming"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am trying to find the words to describe the economic carnage that we are witnessing right now. \u00a0Even before President Trump unveiled his new tariffs<\/a>, the U.S. economy was rapidly heading\u00a0in the wrong direction<\/a>, layoffs were soaring<\/a>, and stock prices were steadily falling. \u00a0But now it is as if enormous amounts of gasoline have been suddenly poured on the fire. \u00a0Trump\u2019s tariffs have caused a massive wave of panic on Wall Street, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1,679 points on Thursday. \u00a0That was the biggest decline that we have seen since the early days of the pandemic in 2020. \u00a0The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also experienced the largest declines that we have seen since 2020. \u00a0Everywhere you look there is carnage. \u00a0The small-cap Russell 2000 index has now fallen more than 20 percent from the peak, and that officially puts it in bear market territory. \u00a0What we are witnessing is absolutely horrifying.<\/p>\n

The reason why there is so much fear is because U.S. tariff rates will now be even higher than they were during the early days of the Great Depression<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

Trump\u2019s aggressive tariff moves are set to lift the US tariffs rate from just 2.5% last year to 22%, according to Fitch.<\/p>\n

That surpasses the roughly 20% tariff rate the United States charged following the infamous Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which set off a global trade war that economists say worsened the Great Depression.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Our system is not designed to handle a shock like this.<\/p>\n

We needed to address our trade imbalances with a scalpel, not a sledgehammer.<\/p>\n

The European Union is already telling us that they will retaliate with new tariffs of their own<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

The European Union has condemned Donald Trump\u2019s sweeping tariffs as \u2018a major blow to the world economy\u2019, with world leaders going on the defensive as they digest what the bombshell measures will mean for global trade.<\/p>\n

\u2018There seems to be no order in the disorder. No clear path through the complexity and chaos that is being created as all US trading partners are hit,\u2019 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.<\/p>\n

Responding to the 20 percent tariffs on EU exports to the United States, she said Brussels was \u2018finalising a first package of countermeasures\u2019 and preparing to implement more.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And the Chinese are warning that they will be implementing \u201ccountermeasures\u201d<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

Nikkei Asia<\/a> quoted China\u2019s Ministry of Commerce, warning that it \u201cfirmly opposes<\/strong>\u201d Trump\u2019s tariffs and \u201cwill resolutely take countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Commerce Ministry noted that the US \u201cignored<\/strong>\u201d the benefits of a global trading system, adding,\u00a0\u201cThe so-called \u2018reciprocal tariffs,\u2019 which are based on subjective and unilateral assessments by the United States, are not in line with the rules of international trade, seriously jeopardize the legitimate rights and interests of the parties concerned, and are typical of unilateral bullying<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Our relations with China have been on a downhill trajectory for a long time, and now Chinese officials are absolutely furious.<\/p>\n

They know that their economy is going to get hit extremely hard by these tariffs.<\/p>\n

In fact, pretty much all major Asian economies will get hit extremely hard<\/a> by these tariffs\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cAsian economies will be hit harder than most by U.S. reciprocal tariffs,\u201d said Marcel Thieliant, head of Asia-Pacific at Capital Economics. \u201cNot only do Asian economies face higher tariffs than many others, they are also more dependent on U.S. goods demand than most.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I have written much about how dependent we have become on imports from China.<\/p>\n

But the truth is that we have also become highly dependent on imports from other Asian nations as well.<\/p>\n

For example, the new 46 percent tariff on goods from Vietnam will be extremely painful for U.S. consumers, because we import vast amounts of clothing, toys, furniture and shoes from that country.<\/p>\n

In fact, almost one-third of all footwear imports \u201ccame from Vietnam in 2023\u201d<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

Nike shares dropped nearly 12% in afternoon trading Thursday. Adidas and other major footwear players also rely heavily on Vietnam.<\/p>\n

Adidas said it will evaluate the tariffs and monitor how they will affect its business. Nike did not immediately respond to CNBC\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

Nearly a third of footwear imports in the U.S. came from Vietnam in 2023, the most recent full-year data available, according to the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, an industry trade group.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The era of cheap shoes is ending.<\/p>\n

Of course the exact same thing could be said about countless other product categories.<\/p>\n

Peter Baum, the chief operating officer of Baum Essex, is warning that this \u201cis how you start a global depression\u201d<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

Peter Baum is the chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Baum Essex, a New York-based manufacturer with licenses to make products for brands like Nautica, Betsey Johnson and Steve Madden. During the first Trump administration in 2019, Baum moved factories from from China to the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam and India.<\/p>\n

He told CNBC on Wednesday that the reciprocal tariffs would do massive damage to his company.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is how you start a global depression. After 80 years and five generations Trump just put us out of business,\u201d Baum said.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As I discussed yesterday<\/a>, we haven\u2019t seen an economic event of this magnitude in a long time.<\/p>\n

Analysts at JPMorgan are warning that we are facing \u201ca substantial macro economic shock\u201d<\/a> and that U.S. consumers should brace themselves for substantially higher prices\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

JPMorgan noted that the tariffs would hike taxes on Americans by $660 billion a year \u2014 the largest tax increase in recent memory by a longshot. It will cause prices to surge, too, adding 2% to the Consumer Price Index, a measure of US inflation that has struggled to come back down to earth in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact on inflation will be substantial,\u201d the analysts said. \u201cWe view the full implementation of these policies as a substantial macro economic shock.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As this economic shock reverberates throughout the U.S. economy, large numbers of people are going to lose their jobs.<\/p>\n

Of course this is already happening.<\/p>\n

According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, layoffs in the U.S. were 205 percent higher<\/a> in March 2025 than they were in March 2024\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

Layoffs across the U.S. surged 205% in March when compared with a year earlier, with last month\u2019s 275,240 job cuts fueled by widespread firings engineered by billionaire Elon Musk\u2019s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.<\/p>\n

March\u2019s layoffs represent the third-highest monthly total ever recorded, Challenger said. The two previous highest monthly totals were recorded in April 2020 and May 2020, when more than 671,000 and 397,000 job cuts, respectively, were recorded, due to the pandemic shuttering the U.S. economy, according to its data.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Read that last paragraph again.<\/p>\n

The only time we have seen worse months was during the early days of the pandemic in 2020.<\/p>\n

And now the extreme disruption caused by the new tariffs will inevitably result in even more layoffs. \u00a0In fact, Stellantis immediately announced<\/a> a wave of layoffs following the unveiling of the new tariffs\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

Stellantis has \u201cpaused production\u201d at some of its Canadian and Mexican auto assembly plants due to the newly announced tariffs \u2014 and as a result, some US workers will also be temporarily laid off.<\/p>\n

Among those to be laid off are 900 US hourly employees who make powertrains and stampings that supply the affected Canadian and Mexican plants, Stellantis said Thursday. The temporary layoffs are due to reduced production prompted by the tariffs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We are going to witness such a dramatic shift in the auto industry.<\/p>\n

Trump is imposing a 25 percent tariff on all vehicles imported into the United States, and this is going to instantly make imported vehicles much more expensive<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s 25% tariffs on imported vehicles to the U.S. have taken effect, but the impacts of the new levies on investors and the global automotive industry will play out over the months, if not years, to come.<\/p>\n

The 25% tariffs are on any vehicle not assembled in the U.S., which S&P Global Mobility reports accounted for 46% of the roughly 16 million vehicles sold domestically last year. The White House has said it also plans to place tariffs on some auto parts such as engines and transmissions, but those are set to take effect no later than May 3.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The global economy was already slowing down significantly.<\/p>\n

A disruption of this magnitude threatens to throw it into a state of complete and utter chaos.<\/p>\n

We haven\u2019t seen anything like this since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and that should deeply alarm all of us.<\/p>\n

Michael\u2019s new book entitled\u00a0\u201cWhy\u201d<\/a>\u00a0is available\u00a0in paperback<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0for the Kindle<\/a>\u00a0on Amazon.com,\u00a0and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at\u00a0michaeltsnyder.substack.com<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

About the Author:<\/strong>\u00a0Michael Snyder\u2019s new book entitled\u00a0\u201cWhy\u201d<\/a>\u00a0is available\u00a0in paperback<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0for the Kindle<\/a>\u00a0on Amazon.com. He has also written eight other books that are available on Amazon.com including\u00a0\u201cChaos\u201d<\/a>,\u00a0\u201cEnd Times\u201d<\/a>,\u00a0\u201c7 Year Apocalypse\u201d<\/a>,\u00a0\u201cLost Prophecies Of The Future Of America\u201d<\/a>,\u00a0\u201cThe Beginning Of The End\u201d<\/a>, and\u00a0\u201cLiving A Life That Really Matters\u201d<\/a>.\u00a0 When you purchase any of Michael\u2019s books you help to support the work that he is doing.\u00a0 You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his\u00a0Substack newsletter<\/a>.\u00a0 Michael has\u00a0published thousands of articles on\u00a0The Economic Collapse Blog<\/a>,\u00a0End Of The American Dream<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0The Most Important News<\/a>, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.\u00a0 These are such troubled times, and people need hope.\u00a0 John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: \u201cFor God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.\u201d\u00a0 If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ\u00a0to be your Lord and Savior<\/a>\u00a0today.<\/p>\n

The post Wake Up! The Stock Market Is Crashing, Layoffs Have Surged More Than 200 Percent, And We Are Being Warned A Depression Is Coming<\/a> was first published by Michael Snyder on The Economic Collapse Blog<\/a> and is republished here with his permission. Please support his efforts.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am trying to find the words to describe the economic carnage that we are witnessing right now. \u00a0Even before President Trump unveiled his new tariffs, the U.S. economy was rapidly heading\u00a0in the wrong direction, layoffs were soaring, and stock prices were steadily falling. \u00a0But now it is as if enormous amounts of gasoline have …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":2399646,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[71],"class_list":["post-2399644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-news-politics","tag-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2399644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2399645,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399644\/revisions\/2399645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2399646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2399644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2399644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monetizemail.com\/magatoon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2399644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}