Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 2, 2025.

The United States will levy a 10% baseline tariff on all imports and steeper rates on many countries, President Trump announced Wednesday. The “reciprocal tariffs” plan includes duties of 20% on the European Union, 32% on Taiwan, 34% on China and 46% on Vietnam, all taking effect in the coming days. The White House said the higher, country-specific tariff rates were roughly half of what it claimed each country has “charged” the U.S. But market observers quickly reverse engineered the figures, to confusing results.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen holds a joint press conference with Antonio Costa at the end of the European Council Summit in Brussels, Belgium, on March 20, 2025.

Countries around the world are weighing their next steps in the wake of Trump’s fresh tariffs, with many vowing to retaliate. “We are prepared to respond,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “We are now preparing for further countermeasures, to protect our interests and our businesses if negotiations fail.” China’s Ministry of Commerce, meanwhile, urged the U.S. to “immediately cancel” the new tariffs, promising to take “resolute countermeasures.”

Elon Musk, wearing a red hat, looks on as US President Donald Trump hosts a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on March 24, 2025, in Washington, DC. 

Tesla shares had a wild ride on Wednesday. The stock dipped in the morning on the back of weaker-than-expected vehicle deliveries, then rallied on reports that CEO Elon Musk may soon leave his White House role, only to sink again following Trump’s tariff announcement. The EV maker on Wednesday reported 336,681 deliveries in its first quarter — a 13% decline from a year ago — amid protests and boycotts against Musk’s role in the Trump administration. But Musk may soon be on his way out of the White House: Trump recently told his Cabinet members that the CEO will leave the administration in the coming months, according to NBC News. Tesla shares closed the day up more than 5% on the news, but the gains were largely wiped out by the post-tariff announcement sell-off. Shares were last down 6% premarket.

(L-R) Lauren Sanchez, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attend the inauguration ceremony before Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th US President in the US Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. 

Bidders are lining up for TikTok as the deadline nears for ByteDance to divest the popular social media app’s American operations. CNBC confirmed that Amazon this week submitted a bid for the app, sending its proposal in a letter to Vice President JD Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Ad tech company AppLovin is also in negotiations to potentially acquire TikTok, sources told CNBC’s David Faber Wednesday. But the clock’s ticking. TikTok faces another potential shutdown on April 5 unless ByteDance agrees to divest the app’s American operations, though Trump has indicated he might extend the deadline.

— CNBC’s John Melloy, Pia Singh, Yun Li, Dan Mangan, Kevin Breuninger, Jesse Pound, Christina Wilkie, Megan Cassella, Erin Doherty, Neelabh Chaturvedi, Asriel Chua, Sophie Kiderlin, Lim Hui Jie, Anniek Bao, Lora Kolodny, Fred Imbert, CJ Haddad and Annie Palmer contributed to this report.