At approximately 14:45 Lisbon time, the Dow Jones index dropped by 1.23% to 38,661.43 points, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq declined by 1.71% to 16,003.34 points.
Meanwhile, the broad S&P 500 index stood at 5,230.55 points, marking a decrease of 0.99%.
Beijing issued a warning today that it will “not accept” international agreements that “undermine its interests,” following media reports that U.S. President Donald Trump is urging other countries to curtail trade with China.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce stated in a communiqué that the United States “has abused tariffs on trade partners under the banner of ‘reciprocity'” and “pressed all parties to engage in negotiations” with Washington.
The ministry emphasized that it “respects efforts by all parties to resolve economic and trade differences with the United States through fair consultations.” However, it added that these parties must “adopt a stance of equity, fairness, and historical correction” and “uphold international economic and trade rules, as well as the multilateral trading system.”
The trade war initiated by Trump escalated on April 2 with the announcement of “reciprocal tariffs” for the rest of the world, a move that was later adjusted due to market declines and the rising costs of financing U.S. debt.
Nevertheless, while softening his approach against most countries by imposing a general 10% tariff, Trump opted to raise tariffs on China to 245% after it responded with retaliatory tariffs.
In response, Beijing increased its tariffs on American products to 125%.
