Stock Market Today: 35% Tariff on Canada Spooks Investors

Stock Market Today: 35% Tariff on Canada Spooks Investors originally appeared on TheStreet.

Updated 11:43 a.m. ET

Stocks were still struggling in late morning trading as investors fretted with the possibility of higher tariffs on goods coming into the U.S.

President Trump has said he wants to boost tariffs on Canadian goods not covered by existing trade deals to some 35%. Products that might be affected include aluminum, steel, motor vehicles and parts.

He also wants to boost tariffs on copper imports and Brazilian products to 50%. The latter is more a political move in part because Trump considers criminal charges against former the country's former president, Jair Bolsonaro, to be political. Bolsanaro is a Trump ally.

The president argued Thursday that record stock market levels on Thursday were proof his tariff plans were well received.

Maybe not so much on Friday.

At 11:25 a.m. ET, the Standard & Poor's 500 was off 24 points to 6,265. The Nasdaq Composite was off 41 points to 20,590.

The S&P and Nasdaq had hit new highs on Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen 270 points to 44,381. The average had been down as many as 375 points at 9:45 a.m.

The 10-year Treasury yield, a key determinant of mortgage rates, was at 4.41%, up from 4.35% on Thursday.

The increase comes as the White House continues to demand the Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate. The Fed's policy-making Federal Open Market Committee meets July 29-30.

Crude oil was up $1.75 to $68.32 per barrel. Gold added $52.20 to $3,377.90 per troy ounce.

Among stock market winners on Friday:

• Levi Strauss  (LEVI) , up 11% to $21 on an earnings beat.

• Halliburton HAL was up 4% to $23.02.

• Electronics retailer Newegg Commerce NEGG, up 31% to $37.77.

Updated 10 a.m. ET

Stocks opened mostly lower on Friday after President Trump said he was going to raise tariffs on Canadian goods to 35%.

The declines hit all the major averages, from the Standard & Poor's 500 to the Russell 2000 after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes closed Thursday at record highs and Nvidia  (NVDA)  finished the day with the first market capitalization of $4 trillion of any stock.

Despite the tariff news, Nvidia was continuing to climb, rising 1.22% to $166.10, raising its market cap to $4.04 trillion.

At 11:45 a.m., the S&P 500 was off 14 points to 6,267. The Nasdaq Composite was up 6 points to 20,637. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen 267 points to 44,383. The average had been down as many as 375 points at 9:45 a.m.