U.S. stocks close lower amid trade concerns

NEW YORK, March 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended lower on Friday, with the Dow plunging over 400 points, as investors continued to digest U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to impose tariff on imported products from China.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 424.69 points, or 1.77 percent, to 23,533.20. The S&P 500 decreased 55.43 points, or 2.10 percent, to 2,588.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 174.01 points, or 2.43 percent, to 6,992.67.

Despite strong warnings from business groups and trade experts, Trump on Thursday signed a memorandum that could impose tariffs on up to 60 billion U.S. dollars of imports from China, in a unilateral move that triggered market selloff.

According to the presidential memorandum, Trump has directed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to publish a list of proposed Chinese goods that could be subject to tariffs in 15 days, while the U.S. Treasury Department will have 60 days to propose restrictions on Chinese investment in the United States.

The move prompted the biggest percentage plunges in Wall Street's three major stock indexes in six weeks on Thursday, with the Dow slumping over 700 points, as investors were agitated by the scale of U.S. tariffs and possible impact on global trade.

The Chinese Embassy in the United States said in response that "It is a typical unilateral trade protectionist action. China is strongly disappointed and firmly opposes such an action."

On the economic front, U.S. new orders for manufactured durable goods in February increased 7.4 billion U.S. dollars, or 3.1 percent, to 247.7 billion dollars, the Commerce Department said Friday. Enditem