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Stocks spiraled downward on Friday after President Donald Trump tweeted that the US would retaliate against China's latest round of tariffs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down more than 600 points, shedding 2.4%.

Markets began the day lower after China announced that it planned to impose tariffs on $75 billion worth of US products.

Those losses were pared before Trump's comments, after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell didn't rule out further rate cuts this year during his speech at the central bank's annual symposium.

That recovery was immediately erased when Trump tweeted that he was planning retaliatory measures to be announced sometime Friday afternoon. He didn't do so before the market close.

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Stocks tumbled on Friday after President Donald Trump unleashed a flurry of tweets threatening to amplify the trade war in response to China's latest round of tariffs.

Here's a look at the major indexes as the market close on Friday:

Major indexes began the day slightly down on China's announcement that it would slap duties on $75 billion worth of US products in response to US tariffs set to take effect in September.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell didn't rule out further rate cuts this year during his speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium, paring the losses.

Powell said the Fed would respond as appropriate to macroeconomic conditions, citing a continually weakening global backdrop amid the trade war but strong signs within the US economy. Though stocks returned some losses, they remained relatively flat on the news, as traders were hoping for a more definitive signal on the direction of interest rates.

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Trump then sent stocks into a tailspin by pledging to retaliate against China's latest round of tariffs. He said on Twitter that the US didn't need China and would be "far better off without them."

"Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies HOME and making your products in the USA," the president wrote in two tweets.

The president said he would provide a more detailed response to China's tariffs on Friday afternoon, but it didn't come before the market close.

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