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S&P nears bear market territory

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White House says 104% China tariffs will take effect on

Wednesday

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US will also go ahead with dozens of other

country-specific

levies

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Trade talks with South Korea, Japan scheduled

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Americans expect higher prices

By Susan Heavey, Trevor Hunnicutt and Joe Cash

WASHINGTON/BEIJING, April 8 (Reuters) - The United

States said on Tuesday that 104% duties on imports from China

will take effect shortly after midnight, even as the

administration of President Donald Trump moved to quickly start

talks with other trading partners targeted by sweeping tariffs.

U.S. stocks dropped on Tuesday for a fourth straight trading

day since Trump's tariffs announcement last week, with the S&P

500 closing below 5,000 for the first time in almost a year. The

index is now 18.9% below its most recent high on February 19,

close to the 20% decline that defines a bear market.

S&P 500 companies have lost $5.8 trillion in stock market

value since Trump's tariff announcement last Wednesday, the

deepest four-day loss since the benchmark was created in the

1950s, according to LSEG data.

Global markets had previously posted gains on hopes that

Trump might be willing to negotiate down the array of country

and product-specific trade barriers he is erecting around the

world's largest consumer market.

Japan's Nikkei saw a broad sell-off on Wednesday morning and

other Asian markets were braced for falls, hours before the

tariffs were set to take effect.

The administration has scheduled talks with South Korea and

Japan, two close allies and major trading partners, and Italian

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is due to visit next week.

"These are tailored, highly tailored deals," Trump said at a

White House event, where he signed executive orders aimed at

boosting coal production. "We've had talks with many, many

countries, over 70, they all want to come in. Our problem is,

can't see that many that fast."

But the White House made clear that country-specific tariffs

of up to 50% would nevertheless take effect at 12:01 a.m.

Eastern Time (0401 GMT), as planned.

Those tariffs will be especially steep for China, as Trump

has ratcheted up duties on its imports to 104% in response to

countertariffs Beijing announced last week. China has refused to

bow to what it called blackmail and has vowed to fight to the

end.

Administration officials said they would not prioritize

negotiations with the world's No. 2 economic power.

"Right now, we've received the instruction to prioritize our

allies and our trading partners like Japan and Korea and

others," White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Fox

News.

Trump's tailor-made approach to negotiations with individual

countries could take into account foreign and military aid as

well as economic factors, White House spokeswoman Karoline

Leavitt said.

Trump's lead trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer, told Congress

his office is trying to work quickly but is not facing a

particular deadline.

"The president has been clear, again, that he's not doing

exemptions or exceptions in the near term," Greer told

lawmakers.

At an evening speech to Republican lawmakers, Trump said he

would soon announce "major" tariffs on pharmaceutical imports,

arguing the duties would push drug companies to move

manufacturing operations to the U.S.

Trump's sweeping tariffs have raised fears of recession and

upended a global trading order that has been in place for

decades.

China is bracing for a war of attrition, and manufacturers

are warning about profits and scrambling to plan new overseas

plants. Citing rising external risks, Citi cut its 2025 China

GDP growth forecast to 4.2% from 4.7%.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his country's 25%

tariff on some vehicles - a countermeasure to match Trump's

approach - will take effect immediately after midnight.

"President Trump caused this trade crisis - and Canada is

responding with purpose and with force," Carney said on X.

Canada and Mexico were exempt from the new round of tariffs

Trump announced last week, but previous levies remained in

place. Most goods that comply with the existing trade agreement

between the three countries are not subject to those tariffs.

AMERICANS WORRIED ABOUT PRICES

Three out of four Americans expect prices to rise as Trump's

tariffs kick in, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Chipmaker Micron told customers it will impose a

tariff-related surcharge starting on Wednesday, while U.S.

clothing retailers said they are delaying orders and holding off

on hiring. Running shoes made in Vietnam that now retail for

$155 will cost $220 when Trump's 46% tariff on that country

takes effect, according to an industry group.

Consumers are stocking up while they can. "I'm buying double

of whatever - beans, canned goods, flour, you name it," Thomas

Jennings, 53, said as he pushed a shopping cart through the

aisles of a New Jersey Walmart.

Broad-based price hikes may not show up immediately, as

tariffs will not apply to goods that were already in transit

before they took effect.

The market slide has prompted some business leaders,

including those close to Trump, to urge the president to reverse

course.

Global oil prices steadied after falling to four-year lows.

The European Commission, meanwhile, is mulling

countertariffs of 25% on a range of U.S. goods including

soybeans, nuts and sausages, though other potential items like

bourbon whiskey were left off the list. Officials said they

stood ready to negotiate.

The 27-member bloc is struggling with tariffs on autos and

metals already in place, and faces a 20% tariff on other

products on Wednesday. Trump has also threatened to impose

tariffs on EU alcoholic drinks.

European pharma companies, also fearful of the tariff

fallout, warned the European Commission Trump's tariffs would

expedite the industry's shift away from Europe and toward the

United States.