The major averages sold off following the start to the day as President Donald Trump posted letters to countries indicating new tariffs on imported goods. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 422 points, or 0.94%, to end at 44,406. The S&P 500 fell 49 points or 0.79% to close at 6,229. The Nasdaq Composite lost 188 points or 0.92%, settling at 20,412.52. It was the worst day since mid-June for all three of the major averages.

Imports from at least seven countries will face steep tariffs beginning Aug. 1, Trump revealed in a series of Truth Social posts on Monday. Trump shared screenshots of signed form letters to the leaders of South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Laos and Myanmar, that dictated new tariff rates for each nation. This news pushed the major averages to the lows of the day in afternoon trading.

The auto stocks took a hit. Shares of Toyota Motor and Honda Motor fell  3.9% or more. following Trump’s posts. Ford and GM were down 1.8% or more. Tesla dropped 6%.

In the tech space, only Amazon was higher. The chip stocks were lower with AMD, Intel and Qualcomm down over 2%.

Part of the reason Tesla was lower today was due to CEO Elon Musk announcing his intention over the weekend to form a new political party called the “America Party.” Investors have been less than pleased with the billionaire’s foray into politics this year, which some say have damaged Tesla’s brands and sales.

In the commodity space, oil was higher even as OPEC+ looks to increase production. Gold was modestly higher while bitcoin was modestly lower.

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