Wall Street’s bloodbath spilled over into a second day on Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted by more than 2,200 points after China unveiled stiff retaliatory taxes to President Trump’s tariffs.

The Dow tanked 2,231 points — a day after suffering a 1,679-point drop, its previous worst session since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The two-day selloff wiped out $6.4 trillion in market value.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq plummeted by 962.82 points, or 5.8%, while the broad-based S&P 500 was down 322.44 points, or 5.97%.

The Nasdaq has dropped more than 20% from its December peak, putting it officially in bear market territory.

“For investors looking at their portfolios, it could have felt like an operation performed without anesthesia,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management

Global stock markets also continued on a descent as investors fear that Trump’s reciprocal tariff plan – a 10% baseline tax and much harsher rates for many nations – could stoke inflation and even a recession.

The CBOE Volatility Index, known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, hit its highest level since April 2020, at the start of the COVID pandemic.

The Wall Street tailspin was set off after China’s finance ministry said it will impose a 34% levy on all US imports starting on April 10 — the day after Trump’s reciprocal tariff totaling 54% goes into effect

“We’re beginning to see the inevitable retaliation from the global trade partners of the United States. The risk is that this tips a recession scare into a full-blown recession,” said Ben Laidler, head of equity strategy at Bradesco BBI.

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powel said there was a risk that the levies could stoke inflation while speaking at an event in Arlington, Va., on Friday.

“While tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation, it is also possible that the effects could be more persistent,” Powell said.

“Uncertainty is high,” he added. “What we’ve learned is that the tariffs are higher than anticipated, higher than almost all forecasters predicted.”

Traders continued to anticipate a more accommodating policy from the central bank, with money market futures pricing in cumulative rate cuts of 100 basis points by the end of this year, compared with about 75 bps a week earlier.

Bank stocks in the United States dropped further on Friday, with the sector under pressure globally as investors anticipated more interest rate cuts from central banks and a hit to economic growth from tariffs.

Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Citigroup all fell more than 7% each.

Companies with exposure to China fell across the board, with Apple dropping 7.3%. The chipmakers index sank 7.6%.

Ray Dalio, the chief investment officer of his firm Bridgewater Associates, warned that the tariffs will be “significantly stagflationary in the US and significantly deflationary/recessionary in sanctioned countries.”

“Expect the ride ahead to produce some very big tests and shakeouts that will be great tests of investors’ skills as the critically important monetary, domestic political, and international geopolitical orders are breaking down,” Diallo said.

Professor Brett House of the Economics Division at Columbia Business School told The Post that he expects stocks to continue dropping next week when trading resumes.

House slammed Trump’s tariffs, calling them “deeply injurious to the US and global economies.”

“The [economic] outlook now is much worse than it was [before the election] so i would expect stock prices to continue going further down at least until some substantive change in policy is either announced by the White House or forced by congressional leaders,” House told The Post.

The White House had urged investors to stick behind Trump’s policies before Friday’s opening bell.

“To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say trust in President Trump,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an interview on CNN. 

“This is a president who is doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term… this is indeed a national emergency… and it’s about time we have a president who actually does something about it.”

Professor Nicholas Economides of NYU criticized the administration’s poor communication, saying, “People are left wondering: what should we expect?”

He emphasized the need for clarity, suggesting that “at the very least the Commerce Secretary should’ve come out and explained” the government’s expectations.

While Economides acknowledges current market uncertainty, he argued that “stocks being down more than 20% seems excessive.”

He remains cautiously optimistic, adding that “we’re probably not going to see the maximum possible tariffs,” and compromises with other countries are likely.