Stock futures were falling Tuesday as investors struggled to make up their minds about what escalating trade tensions would mean for markets.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that levies on imports from Canada and Mexico would proceed on schedule. His administration is also planning to beef up restrictions on semiconductor sales to China, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The market is yet to decide if Trump’s tariff threats are a negotiating ploy or a sign that current tensions will escalate into a full-blown trade war. “Thus far, Trump’s ‘bark’ has been worse than his ‘bite,’ though assuming that stance will hold water for the next four years might well prove folly,” Pepperstone strategist Michael Brown wrote Tuesday.
