US equity futures were lower Thursday as traders monitored the evolving trade policies out of the White House.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.9%, S&P 500 futures dropped 1.2%, and Nasdaq futures were down 1.4%.

President Donald Trump's new tariffs on the country's top three trading partners took effect this week. The White House announced Wednesday a one-month pause on North American tariffs for automakers and is also reportedly exploring carve-outs for the agriculture sector.

Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude up 0.7% at $69.78 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude up 0.9% at $66.88 per barrel.

US trade deficit, scheduled for release at 8:30 am ET, is expected to have widened to $128.3 billion in January from $98.4 billion in December. New unemployment claims are expected to drop to 234,000 in the week ended March 1 from 242,000 in the preceding week. No revision from the preliminary estimate is expected for Q4 nonfarm productivity at a 1.2% annual growth, according to forecasts compiled by Bloomberg.