Article snippet: The White House on Wednesday looked to downplay renewed fears of a potential trade war with China after stocks were jolted by Beijing's announcement overnight of $50 billion in proposed retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. “There’s no trade war here,” National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow said in an interview with Fox Business. “What you've got the early stages of a process that will include tariffs, comments on the tariffs, then ultimate decisions and negotiations." Kudlow made the comments after the stock market dropped more than 500 points upon its opening, at least in part a reaction to the tit-for-tat announcement by China of its plan to institute $50 billion in tariffs against U.S. agricultural and aviation sectors. The Dow had recovered much of that ground by midday and turned positive by afternoon. "I understand the stock market’s anxiety," Kudlow said. "I get that. But on the other hand, don't overreact.” Earlier in the morning, President trade deficit dwarfs any losses that would come from the current trade spat. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross later echoed the president's sentiment in an appearance on CNBC, describing China’s $50 billion in proposed tariffs as “relatively proportionate” to the tariffs already announced by the Trump administration and “hardly a life-threatening activity” in terms of potential impact on the overall economy. "This $50 billion that they're talking about amounts to about three-tenths of a percen... Link to the full article to read more