war, we still plan to negotiate. and then steve mnuchin said into c cnbc. >> tariffs will take some period of time. there will be public comments. so while we're in the period before the tariffs go on, we'll continue to have discussions. but there is the potential of a trade war. and let me just be clear, it is not a trade war, the president wants reciprocal trade. >> reporter: voicing the market's worst fear that the trade war is actually possibe. he also avoided questions on whether the two sides were in negotiations, something the markets had been banking on and china didn't help matters either saying that it will not hesitate to fight back at any cost. in the end the dow closed down more than 500 points, nasdaq and s&p 500 also down more than 2%. the fear down here on wall street is that the weekend will bring more uncertainty and more confusion. claire sebastien, cnn money, at