Consumer stocks are worried about the return of a hot trade war with China

US equity futures slumped in premarket trading after President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that China “HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US.”

Markets opened regular trading hours Friday on the back foot, with a basket of consumer stocks vulnerable to tariffs compiled by Goldman Sachs off about 2% and a separate collection of stocks with outsized China exposure (excluding semiconductors) down roughly 1% in early trading.

The tariff-exposed basket includes Gap, which is getting clobbered after warning that tariffs could raise expenses by up to $300 million this year. Apple is a member of the China-linked basket; Nike is in both.

In other words, corporate commentary coupled with missives from the executive branch have traders fretting about the damage already done and the potential for reversal in the thawing of trade tensions between the US and China.

(Apropos of nothing, anyone who mentions “TACO” to Trump does not own enough financial assets, in my humble opinion.)