Sell-Off Worsens After China Retaliates Over Trump Tariffs

April 4, 2025 5:00 am

NEW YORK (AP) — Stock markets worldwide are careening even lower after China matched President Donald Trump’s big raise in tariffs in an escalating trade war. The S&P 500 sank 3.5% Friday, coming off its worst day since COVID wrecked the global economy in 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,226 points, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 3.4%. Not even a better-than-expected report on the U.S. job market was enough to stop the slide. European stocks saw some of the day’s biggest losses, and the price of crude oil tumbled to its lowest level since 2021 on worries about how a trade war could cause a recession.