US markets open sharply lower amid trade war fears with China

iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 500 points at Wednesday’s open over concerns about a possible trade war with China.

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 also opened lower, and both the Dow and S&P are now in correction territory again.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration released a list of 1,300 Chinese products that would face import tariffs.

Hours later, China, the largest consumer of American goods, reciprocated with its own tariffs against 106 U.S. products, including soybeans, wheat, tobacco, corn, cotton and beef.

“We are not in a trade war with China, that war was lost many years ago by the foolish, or incompetent, people who represented the U.S. Now we have a Trade Deficit of $500 Billion a year, with Intellectual Property Theft of another $300 Billion. We cannot let this continue!” President Trump tweeted two hours before the markets opened.

He followed up with another tweet just minutes before the market opened, writing, “When you’re already $500 Billion DOWN, you can’t lose!”

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