Dow Falls 300+ at Open on Trade War Fears

The stock market opened on a sour note Tuesday amid investor fears that a full-blown trade war between the US and China is in the offing. The Dow fell more than 300 points, or 1.2%, in the first minutes of trading, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down similar percentages. Stocks around the world generally were in the same boat, with those in China falling to their lowest levels in two years, reports the Wall Street Journal. Tensions between Washington and Beijing are on high, with President Trump calling for 10% tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports.

“We think the risk of a trade war is becoming much higher at this stage," Haibin Zhu, the chief China economist at JPMorgan, tells the Journal. "In particular, the risk of misjudgment on both sides looks high." Last week, the US levied tariffs of 25% on $50 billion of Chinese goods, per the AP. China then threatened to retaliate, leading Trump to seek broader penalties. (More stock market stories.)