NEW YORK — Stocks are falling sharply on Wall Street as the U.S. and China move closer to an escalation of their trade fight.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down more than 500 points.

Technology companies, which rely heavily on trade with China, bore the brunt of the selling on Tuesday. Apple lost 2.1% and Microsoft gave back 2.2%

China’s top economic official will travel to Washington this week ahead of a Friday deadline by which Washington said it would sharply raise tariffs on Chinese goods.

Safe-play sectors like utilities held up better than the rest of the market.

The S&P 500 fell 54 points, or 1.9%, to 2,877.

The Dow fell 506 points, or 1.9%, to 25,931. The Nasdaq fell 175 points, or 2.2%, to 7,947.