Impact of Tariff Announcements on Stock Returns: Evidence from Chinese Steel and Aluminum

Abstract

Recent political developments in the United States offer a unique opportunity to examine the role of news media on stock returns. We analyze the effects of news articles concerning imposed tariffs for imported steel and aluminum on China. Our primary sample set consist of a combined forty companies from the NYSE and NASDAQ. These organizations came from various industries exposed to Chinese aluminum and steel products in their supply chains. Following collection of the average market returns before and after the events, we evaluate change in market value by using cumulative abnormal returns over varying windows of time. We utilize hypothesis testing to (1) understand if the imposed tariffs have any statistically significant effect on the company’s market value, and (2) quantify the extent of impact on these companies. We find that these media announcements affect overall market value and increase trading volume.