Today’s announcement of Trump doubling Canadian steel and aluminum tariffs isn’t that important to the economy but it sends a troubling message — he doesn’t care about the market.

Going into Trump 2.0 my belief (and one shared by most) was that his top priority remains the stock market. It’s one of the reasons he’s pledging to make permanent a huge corporate tax cut and fight Europe to avoid digital services taxes on megacap tech. I still think that’s the case but it’s not the game he’s playing right now, and today’s move adds fresh questions.

That’s why the S&P 500 has extended its decline today to 44 points and is now testing yesterday’s low.

One silver lining here is that he suggests he’s using emergency powers, which are legally dubious and that suggests the extra tariffs won’t last long.

Update: The SPX lows have broken and the index is down 58 points, or 1%.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.