U.S. stock market futures plunged after the South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday evening that the U.S. and China made no progress in deputy level trade talks this week.
The report added that higher level talks including China’s Vice Premier Liu He would only be one day now with the China delegation planning to leave Washington on Thursday instead of Friday as planned.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost more than 300 points at one point and were last down 259 points, or 1%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were also down 1%. Shares of key stocks related to global trade declined in after hours with Apple and Caterpillar both down more than 1%.
The White House did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. The issue of forced technology transfers, which China refused to put on the table, was the reason why talks were at a standstill, the report said.