This may be the point at which investors have to start taking President Trump’s trade wars much more seriously.
Fears about trade have at times weighed on stocks since mid-February when the Trump administration announced tariffs on steel and aluminum. But the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index is up nearly 9 percent this year, and much of those gains have come in the past two months, a move that took the stock market to a record high last week.
The trade conflict between the United States and China may be on the verge of a sharp escalation. Bloomberg reported on Thursday that Mr. Trump wanted to go ahead soon with tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese products, adding to those already imposed on $50 billion of goods.
Investors may have viewed Mr. Trump’s threats since February as negotiating tactics, and believed that he would be content with limited gains. That appeared to be the case over the past week, in which the White House worked toward a trade deal with Mexico and Canada that does not appear to radically remake the North American Free Trade Agreement.
But there has been unease among many investors. Fund managers have ranked trade as their primary concern over the past few months, and as Mr. Trump’s statements have turned into action, some have positioned their investments for slower economic growth.
