Global stocks face chaos amid tit-for-tat tariffs

Global stock markets faced turbulence following China-US tit-for-tat trade measures last week as the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 572 points down, or around 2.3%, on Friday.

US President Donald Trump directed US trade officials to identify another $100 billion of tariffs on Chinese imports. Following that, China announced it would fight “to the end” on Friday.

European shares also fell on Friday alongside global stock markets as fears of a worsening trade conflict between the US and China continued to worry investors.

The pan-European STOXX 600 declined 0.35 percent, erasing part of Thursday’s 2.4 percent gain though posting a weekly rise of 1 percent.

China stocks halted trading on Thursday and Friday for the Tomb-Sweeping holiday, which commemorates and pays respect to a person’s ancestors.

Earlier on Tuesday (US time), the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced a proposed tariff list on 1,300 Chinese products.

China immediately fought back on Wednesday with tariffs of 25 percent on 106 types of items made in the US, including soybeans, automobiles, chemical products and airplanes.

Shares of some US companies decreased, with US carmaker General Motors witnessing its share price on the New York Stock Exchange drop 3.9 percent before the market even opened.

China stocks gave up early gains and ended slightly lower on Wednesday as investors trimmed their equity exposure ahead of the Tomb-Sweeping holiday break and as they braced for China’s countermeasures against US tariffs on Chinese exports.

Both the blue-chip CSI300 index and the Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.2 percent to 3,854.86 points and 3,131.11 points, respectively.

Most sectors fell but the consumer sector, which is widely seen as immune to trade disputes, rose over 3 percent.