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Investing.com -- Bitcoin price extended losses on Saturday, slipping another 2.3% after a sharp selloff in tech equities and risk assets as U.S.-China trade tensions escalated dramatically.
President Donald Trump announced late Friday that the United States would impose new tariffs of 100% on all Chinese imports beginning Nov. 1, on top of an effective tariff rate, which analysts said already stands at 40%.
Trump also said Washington would enforce export controls on “any and all critical software” on the same date, marking one of the most sweeping trade escalations since the start of the U.S.-China tariff conflict.
The move followed Beijing’s decision to tighten export restrictions on rare earth minerals, a crucial input for the automotive, semiconductor and defense industries.
China controls around 70% of global rare earth supply, making it a critical chokepoint in tech supply chains.
Trump said China had taken an “extraordinarily aggressive” stance and hinted he may cancel a planned meeting with President Xi Jinping at the upcoming APEC summit in South Korea.
Stocks tumble as traders position for further escalation
Financial markets reacted swiftly. U.S. equities reversed early gains and accelerated lower into the close on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending down 1.9% and the S&P 500 losing 2.71%, its steepest one-day drop since April 10.
The NASDAQ Composite, which had hit a record intraday high earlier in the session, finished down 3.56% as tech shares bore the brunt of the selloff.
Analysts cited concerns that rare earth restrictions could disrupt production plans for major U.S. technology firms. Wall Street’s fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index, surged above 22.
“After a relatively calm few months and improving relations between the US and China this step up in tensions has created a white knuckle moment for the markets with tech stocks under major pressure today,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
Still, Ives kept a constructive view on the sector despite the rout, saying “the bark will likely be worse than the bite this time around as cooler heads prevail.”
He said he continues to see pullbacks like this as buying opportunities in semiconductors, software and Big Tech.
"Sell-offs like today we encourage investors to buy the tech winners and not head for elevators despite this war of words between Trump and Xi," Ives concluded.
Bitcoin extends losses on Saturday
Risk aversion spilled into digital assets. Bitcoin, which had already dropped sharply in late Friday trade, was down 2.35%, trading at $110,745 by 08:18 GMT Saturday. Ethereum was down 0.9% on the day after losing 12.2% on Friday.
The cryptocurrency is down more than 10% over the past 24 hours, while major tokens including ether, XRP and Solana have slid between 15% and 30%.
The digital assets sector was caught in the broader flight from risk following Trump’s comments, with fears that a prolonged trade conflict could tighten global liquidity conditions and curb speculative investment flows.