Trade war escalates as Trump announces new 10% tariffs on China
President Donald Trump on Thursday escalated the trade war between the U.S. and China by threatening to impose import tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese products starting September 1.
“The US will start, on September 1, putting a small additional Tariff of 10% on the remaining 300 Billion Dollars of goods and products coming from China into our Country. This does not include the 250 Billion Dollars already Tariffed at 25%,” the president tweeted.
Trump later told reporters that the tariffs would initially be set at 10%, but could be raised “well beyond” 25%.
Meanwhile, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday that Beijing would take necessary countermeasures if Trump goes ahead with the tariff hikes. Stocks dropped sharply on Thursday after the president’s tweet, led by declines in the financial and energy sectors.
At 5:11 a.m. ET Friday, the Dow futures contract was seen losing 95 points, or 0.36% to 26,448. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Futures contract was down 60.25 points, or 0.77% to 7,748, while the S&P 500 futures contract was down 14.38 points, or 0.49% to 2,937.62.
Crude oil prices rebound after getting hammered by tariff threat
Oil prices recovered Friday after suffering their worst day in more than four years on Thursday in the wake of Trump’s threat of tariff increases on additional Chinese goods.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped by almost 8% on Thursday, their worst day in more than four years. Brent crude futures declined more than 7%, posting their largest slump in more than three years.
On Friday, Brent crude futures gained $1.51, or 2.5%, to $62.01 per barrel. WTI crude futures rose $1.06, or 2%, to $55.01 per barrel.
July jobs report out today
The U.S. Department of Labor will release the July jobs report at 8:30 a.m. ET today. According to economists polled by the Wall Street Journal, the report is expected to show that employers added 166,000 jobs last month.
Economists also predict that unemployment rate dropped to 3.6% in July from 3.7% in June. Average hourly earnings are expected to have increased by 0.2% last month, bringing the year-over-year rate to 3.1%.
