NEW YORK, May 6 — Wall Street stocks were sharply lower early today, joining most global bourses in tumbling as US President Donald Trump threatened new tariff measures on China.
US stocks futures fell after Trump threatened yesterday to raise tariffs to 25 per cent from 10 per cent on US$200 billion in Chinese merchandise, expressing frustration at the pace of US-China negotiations and throwing into doubt the chances of success in a long-discussed trade deal.
Near 1300 GMT, about 30 minutes before the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were at 26,026.00, down 1.8 per cent.
Futures for the broad-based S&P 500 fell 1.5 per cent to 2,902.00, while the Nasdaq dropped 1.9 per cent to 7,716.75.
Most stock markets in Europe and Asia were also trading lower.
“The Trade Deal with China continues but too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate. No!” Trump tweeted yesterday.
Trump also renewed a threat to impose tariffs on all Chinese imports to the US — worth US$539.5 billion last year.
Despite Trump’s tweetstorm, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said a Chinese team was “currently preparing to go to the US for negotiations” — but he did not say when or whether top negotiator Liu He would lead the delegation.
The latest Trump threats come as US indices linger near record highs, in part due to the ebbing of threats between Beijing and Washington as the two sides have engaged in several rounds of talks that they have described as progress-filled.
“This latest twist in the US-China trade talk drama may be a significant setback, or just some of the tough talk tactics that we saw towards the end of the Nafta 2.0 negotiations,” said a note from Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities Corporation.
“Either way, with markets at or near all-time highs, it looks like a messy Monday of shooting first and asking questions latter.” — AFP
