US equity indexes fell Tuesday after Canada and China retaliated against the Trump administration's trade tariffs, while Mexico promised to hit back.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3% to 18,298.1, with the S&P 500 down 0.9% to 5,797.2 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1.2% lower at 42,701.8 after midday. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 earlier traded more than 1.5% lower.

The CBOE's volatility index VIX, known also as the fear gauge, rose 3% to 23.47. The index was up more than 11% earlier in the day.

President Donald Trump ordered 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, while doubling import duties on goods from China to 20%. Canada is responding with an initial tranche of retaliatory tariffs on $30 billion of US goods and plans to raise the levies to $155 billion of imports. China imposed 10% to 15% levies on US food and agricultural products, while placing export and investment restrictions on 25 US companies.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government would respond with countermeasures, but did not immediately provide details, Reuters reported.

Retaliatory tariffs could hit American agricultural exports, auto parts, and key industries reliant on North American trade agreements, according to a deVere Group note.

"The latest moves are expected to create ripples in the relationship with the country's largest trading partners and at least in the near term potentially result in some supply chain disturbances and/or add additional price pressures with roughly $1.5 trillion in goods potentially impacted," Stifel Chief Economist Lindsey Piegza said in a note.

In economic news, Redbook US same-store sales accelerated 6.6% from a year ago in the week ended March 1 after a 6.2% increase in the previous week.

US Treasury yields traded mixed, with the 2-year dropping 4.9 basis points to 3.93%, and the 10-year rising 1.3 basis points to 4.19%. The 10-year yield was down by about four basis points earlier in the session.

In company news, Best Buy (BBY) flagged potential price increases amid tariff uncertainties and issued a full-year earnings outlook that fell short of Wall Street estimates at the midpoint. Its shares sank 12% intraday, the worst performer on the S&P 500.

Tesla (TSLA) sold 30,688 China-made electric vehicles in February, a 49.2% decrease from a year earlier, Reuters cited data from the China Passenger Car Association. Shares slumped nearly 4%, among the steepest decliners on the Nasdaq.

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) jumped more than 7% intraday, among the top gainers on the S&P 500, after The Wall Street Journal reported overnight that the company is nearing the completion of a $10 billion go-private deal with private-equity firm Sycamore Partners.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures dropped 0.4% to $68.09 a barrel, off its session lows.

Gold futures rose 0.7% to $2,922.51, while their silver counterparts rose 0.1% to $32.34.