U.S. stock futures fell sharply Monday night after the Trump administration announced tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods.
At 7:59 p.m. ET, Dow futures indicated a negative open of 100 points. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 futures also indicated negative opens.
The after-hours drop in futures came after the White House announced that the U.S. will impose 10 percent tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese imports, and those duties will rise to 25 percent at the end of the year.
The latest action aggravates a growing trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies, with Beijing prepared to impose sanctions of its own.
The announcement came after National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told reporters that Trump has “not been satisfied” with the trade talks with Beijing.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that Trump was set to move ahead with tariffs on US$200 billion in Chinese goods.
The report followed other news outlets saying that U.S. officials were trying to restart U.S.-China trade talks.
Fears of escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China have knocked equities off of record highs set last month. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite set all-time highs to end August.
This month, however, both indexes are down 0.4 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively, through Monday’s close.
The major indexes all closed lower on Monday, with the Dow falling nearly 100 points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq pulled back 0.6 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.
Source: CNBC
