Dow falls 495 points as China announces tariffs on US imports

U.S. stocks slid Monday after China announced new tariffs on agricultural imports from the United States in response to President Trump’s levies on foreign steel and aluminum.

The Dow Jones industrial average shed 459 points, or 1.9 percent, after being down by as much as 750 earlier in the day.

China announced a 15-percent tax on more than 120 U.S. imports, including pork, fruit and nuts, as a response to Trump’s tariffs of 25 percent and 10 percent on Chinese steel and aluminum, respectively.

{mosads}China is expected to levy further tariffs on U.S goods in response to Trump’s plan to impose up to $60 billion in levies on Chinese imports.

Stock markets have taken heavy losses as investors brace for trade retaliation between the U.S. and other global economic powers. While Trump had touted tariffs throughout his campaign and presidency, the formal steps he’s taken to announce and implement them have triggered several sell-offs since January.

The most recent occurred two weeks ago, when each of the three major U.S. indexes lost 5 to 6 percent of their value in five days. The week ending March 23 was the worst for U.S. stocks in two years, but markets bounced back the following Monday on news of successful trade talks between the Trump administration and South Korea.

Troubled technology giants have also suffered steep stock losses, weighing down markets on the whole. Shares in Amazon fell 5.2 percent Monday as Trump continued his criticism of the online retailer and its owner, Jeff Bezos.

Tesla stock fell more than 5 percent over concerns about the company’s financial viability, while Facebook’s ongoing data use controversy dragged its stock down 2 percent.

Updated at 7:47 p.m.