Trump tariff talk spooks Wall Street
US president Donald Trump sent shockwaves through Wall Street tonight after revealing plans to slap more tariffs on Chinese goods in the latest trade battle between Washington and Beijing.
In a string of tweets, Trump spooked investors after announcing 10 per cent tariffs on another $300bn (£247bn) of goods following this week’s talks between the world’s two largest economies.
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Stocks immediately turned red, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average crashing to a 280 point loss, falling from an earlier 300-point gain.
“We thought we had a deal with China three months ago, but sadly, China decided to
re-negotiate the deal prior to signing,” Trump tweeted.
The President said the US will start “putting a small additional Tariff of 10 per cent on the remaining 300 Billion Dollars of goods and products coming from China into our Country” at the start of September.
US and Chinese negotiators met for a round of trade talks earlier this week, but hopes of any deal between the two sides soon faded amid mutual criticism in recent days.
Read more: Tariffs hurting US manufacturers, says Trump’s ex-economic adviser
Firms relying on trade with China sunk, with Apple falling from a gain of 1.4 per cent to a loss of 2.2 per cent.
Falls across the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq tonight came just a day after the Fed surprised markets after hinting that future interest rate cuts would not be as deep as previously expected.