In pictures: Panic on Wall Street as Trump announces new tariffs
US stocks dropped after a second day of stunning reversals.
The S&P 500 fell 1.6 per cent after wiping out an early gain of 4.1 per cent, which had it on track for its best day in years.
That brought the index nearly 19 per cent below its record set in February.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 320 points after giving up an earlier surge of 1460, while the Nasdaq composite lost 2.1 per cent.
Uncertainty is still high about what US President Donald Trump will do with his trade war.
The latest set of tariffs, including a massive 104 per cent levy on Chinese imports, are scheduled to kick in after midnight.
United Nations Secretary General Antonion Guterres told reporters Tuesday that he's particularly worried about the effect of US tariffs and the trade war it's unleashing on "the most vulnerable developing countries in which the impact will be more devastating."
Is the United Nations secretary-general worried a trade war will lead to a global recession?
"I sincerely hope that we will have no recession because a recession will have dramatic consequences, especially for the poorest people in the world," Guterres said.
The dominant group of U.S. stocks known as the "Magnificent Seven" racked up more losses overnight after a broad Wall Street rally gave way to another market rout.
Shares in Tesla and Apple fell the most, declining 4.9 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively.
Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Google parent Alphabet all closed between 0.7 per cent and 2.6 per cent lower.
The "Magnificent Seven" are so massive in size, their movements carry more weight on the S&P 500 and other indexes than other stocks.
Since the major market sell-off last Wednesday, the "Magnificent Seven" have shed a combined market value of US$2.12 trillion ($3.56 trillion).
Beijing on Tuesday requested consultations with the United States over the 34 per cent "reciprocal'' tariff Trump imposed on Chinese imports.
The request is the first step the World Trade Organisation's dispute resolution process. If the issue is not resolved in 60 days, China can request that a WTO panel hear its case.
The Geneva-based organisation was set up to enforce the rules of global trade.
It's unlikely the Chinese complaint will amount to much.
The US in 2019 blocked the appointment of judges to the WTO Appellate Body, its supreme court. So cases that get appealed end up in limbo with no one to decide them.
The price of bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, fell to around US$76,600 ($128,620) as it gave up an earlier gain, similar to stocks.
Also, the US Justice Department announced it is disbanding a team of prosecutors who targeted cryptocurrency crimes and is shifting its focus away from complex crypto-related cases involving banking and securities law, according to a memo reviewed by The Associated Press.
Trump's top trade negotiator came under fire from senators unnerved by the president's sweeping global tariffs, a market meltdown and the heightened risk of recession from an upended global trading order.
"It seems like we've decided to begin a trade war on all fronts,″ said Republican senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
He said he wanted to know who in the Trump administration he should hold responsible – and "choke″ – if the tariffs fail and Americans suffer from higher prices and slower economic growth.
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told representatives of business associations on Tuesday that she will propose "a zero for zero" approach to tariffs when she meets with Trump in Washington on April 17.
Meloni added that EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen backed that approach, which includes the possibility of eliminating reciprocal duties on existing industrial products with the zero-for-zero formula, according to a source attending Tuesday's meeting with Italian business representatives. They spoke on condition of anonymity because it was a closed door meeting.
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