China escalated the global trade conflict on Friday by imposing an additional 34% tariff on U.S. goods, following President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs.

Saudi Arabia and other members of the OPEC Plus group accelerated their program to put more oil on the market, adding to a sharp fall in prices.

The levies were seen as more aggressive than expected, with a 10 percent duty on all exports to the US and even higher rates on about 60 nations.

Stock indexes tumbled on Thursday, with the S&P 500 down more than 4%, while the U.S. dollar weakened and oil prices fell more than 6% as President Donald Trump’s drastic U.S. trade tariffs stoked fears of a global recession and led investors to seek safe-haven assets like bonds and the yen.

The combination of lower oil prices and higher costs for essential materials like steel pipe threatens to squeeze domestic oil and gas producers.

Energy prices got slammed by fears of a global economic slowdown stemming from President Trump's tariff plan, and OPEC and its market allies piled pressure onto the U.S. energy industry by open up the spigots.