NEW YORK —

A monthslong calm on Wall Street is shattering on Friday, and U.S. stocks are falling after President Donald Trump threatened to crank tariffs much higher on China.

The S&P 500 sank 2% and was heading toward its worst loss since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 598 points, or 1.3%, after earlier tumbling as many as 644 points. The Nasdaq composite was down 2.6% as of 1:20 p.m. EDT.

Stocks had been heading for a slight gain in the morning until Trump took to his social media platform and said he is considering "a massive increase of tariffs" on Chinese imports. He is upset about the restrictions China has placed on exports of its rare earths, which are materials that are critical for the manufacturing of everything from consumer electronics to jet engines.

"We

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