Welcome to the NewsHour. Markets dropped again today as investors and businesses focused on the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China and what it could mean for the economy.

Markets continued their major slide since mid-February. The Dow dropped more than a thousand points or two and a half percent. The NASDAQ fell by four percent and the S&P 500 dropped by nearly three and a half percent.

For his part, President Trump showed no immediate signs of easing Chinese tariffs.

John Yang begins with this report.

Today, stock markets gave back much of what they gained yesterday.

At a cabinet meeting, President Trump said it's just part of the process.

There'll be a transition cost and transition problems, but in the end it's going to be a beautiful thing.

He underscored his willingness to negotiate with trading partners.

Everybody wants to come and make a deal, and we're working with a lot of different countries,

and it's all going to work out very well.

One country not showing any interest in making a deal?

China.

Earlier, the White House clarified that the total new tariffs on China stand at 145%.

That's because the 125% duty announced yesterday

is on top of the 20% rate levied earlier

in response to the fentanyl crisis.

Chinese officials call it bullying.

Tariff wars and trade wars have no winners.

China doesn't want to fight them, but does not fear them when they come our way.

If the U.S. insists on fighting a tariff war or a trade war, China will fight to the end.

After the initial levies were imposed, China responded with an 84% tariff on U.S. goods. On CNBC, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said

many of the platform's third-party sellers, either in China or selling Chinese products,

...