NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks fell in early trading Friday after US President Donald Trump unveiled hefty tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese imports, prompting China to announce equal levies on US goods.
About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 25,000.77, down 0.7 percent.
The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.4 percent to 2,770.30, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slid 0.6 percent to 7,716.56, pulling back from Thursday’s record close.
Trump, in a statement, warned of “additional tariffs” should China hit back with tit-for-tat duties on American goods and services exports.
The administration announced 25 percent tariffs on $34 billion in goods starting July 6, while the remaining $16 billion remain under consideration.
China said it would respond in kind.
“We will immediately launch tax measures of equal scale and equal strength,” the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its web site which also called on other countries to “take collective action” against this “outdated and backwards behavior.”
Trump’s action follows weeks of back and forth between Washington and Beijing that have veered in tone from conciliatory to hostile and left observers unsure of the likelihood of a trade war that could bruise global growth.
“In the on again-off again discussion about the menacing specter of a trade war, things are on again this morning,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.
“It’s hard to know if this is just a big game of political chicken that will get resolved without anyone getting permanently hurt or if it is the start of something bigger that will create some real economic damage,” he added.
Source: Brecorder
