Dow surges more than 1,000 points after Trump admin claims ‘18 proposals’ received for new trade deals — poised for another big rally

Wall Street roared back on Tuesday after the Trump administration said it received “18 proposals” on paper” for trade deals — and the markets are poised for another rally Wednesday over renewed optimism for a deal with China.

President Trump called 145% tariffs he imposed on China “very high” and signaled a deal to “substantially” lower them is in the works.

“It won’t be that high,” Trump said.

In another positive development, Trump said he has no intention of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, the possibility of which had roiled the markets on Monday.

His comments came after the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1,016.57 points, or 2.7% — recovering all of Monday’s steep 970-point loss and breaking a four-day losing streak.

The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed up more than 2%.

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Earlier in the day, the White House said it had made a lot of progress on trade deals.

“We now have 18 proposals on paper that have been brought to the trade team,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

“We are moving at Trump speed to ensure these deals are made on behalf of the American worker and the American people.”

The market’s rebound comes amid escalating tariffs between the United States and China and growing worries over the independence of the Fed.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that while trade negotiations with Beijing will likely be “a slog,” he believes that there will be a de-escalation of U.S.-China trade tensions.

“The roller coaster continues,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group in Omaha. “Some thawing of the aggression (between) U.S. and China, thanks to Bessent’s comments, helped push things higher.”

“Washington understands that the uncertainty around tariffs is hurting markets and maybe we can get some type of positive news going forward on the trade front,” Detrick added.

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Those uncertainties helped prompt the International Monetary Fund to slash its forecasts for US economic growth to 1.8% in 2025, citing the impact of U.S. tariffs, now at 100-year highs.

First-quarter earnings season gathered steam.

So far, 82 of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported. Of those, 73% have beaten expectations, according to LSEG.

Analysts now see aggregate S&P 500 earnings growth 8.1% for the Jan.-March period, down from the 12.2% growth forecast at the beginning of the quarter, per LSEG.

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“Current earnings are showing a continuation of good fundamentals, which is not a surprise,” said Bill Merz, head of Capital Market Research at US Bank Wealth Management, Minneapolis, who added that investors are parsing corporate guidance for “clarity on what companies are planning to do in response to tariff policy.”

On Monday, Trump continued his public campaign against Fed Chair Jerome Powell, calling him “Mr. Too Late” and a “major loser” in a post on Truth Social and accusing him of stalling on rate cuts that Trump claims are necessary to prevent an economic slowdown.

Trump also hinted last week that Powell could be removed from his position–— a highly unusual and legally questionable move that White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett later confirmed is under review.

Powell has publicly stated that he cannot be dismissed and plans to serve through the end of his term in May 2026.

“There’s just so much uncertainty right now with the tariff cycle and with the economy,” Larry Tentarelli, founder of the Blue Chip Daily Trend Report, told CNBC.

“Adding one more layer of uncertainty with Jerome Powell just adds more volatility to the markets overall.”

The broader market has been under pressure since Trump’s April 2 announcement of sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs, a policy shift that has shaken global financial markets.