2 weeks Ago
US stocks were set to plunge Friday after China retaliated against the United States for President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Dow futures fell 1,000 points, or 2.3%.
The broader S&P 500 was set to open 2.4% lower and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was on pace to start the day 2.7% lower.
China announced sweeping 34% tariffs on all US goods starting April 10, a major escalation of a trade war that has been raging for years between the world’s two largest economies. But the tit-for-tat tariff escalation kicked into high gear after Trump took office for the second time in January. Trump in February placed an additional 10% tariff on all Chinese goods imported to the US and doubled that rate to 20% in March.
On Wednesday, Trump announced that tariffs on China would rise to 54%. That’s on top of existing import taxes, which he and former President Joe Biden already had in place on the country. Investors had already been fearful that a dramatic escalation of the trade war could plunge the US and global economies into a recession.
JPMorgan said Thursday that America’s economy and the broader world economy both had a 60% chance of sinking into a recession this year. Markets have been on edge as a result: Stocks tumbled all over the world. European and UK stocks were down more than 3% Friday, on pace for their worst performance in years.
On Thursday, the Dow fell more than 1,600 points, or nearly 4%. The S&P 500 fell nearly 5% and the Nasdaq plunged nearly 6%. Each of the three major US indexes recorded its worst performance in about five years, since the pandemic.
This is a developing story and will be updated..
