The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.3 percent, closing at 26,438.48 after have been down nearly 1.8 percent earlier in the session.

The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 0.5 percent to 2,932.47, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also fell 0.5 percent to 8,123.29.

Trump on Sunday vowed that on Friday he would raise tariffs to 25 percent from the current 10 percent on $200 billion in Chinese merchandise, expressing frustration at the pace of US-China negotiations and throwing into doubt the chances of success in reaching a trade deal with Beijing.

Global stocks immediately sold off on the remarks, which suddenly seemed to put at risk months of negotiations.

But US stocks began edging higher soon after trading began on New York exchanges.

Analysts said stocks probably would have stayed down if investors believed the deal really was falling apart in a worst-case scenario of a wider trade war.

"Investors are looking at it as just posturing because these tweets run in stark contrast to what the White House has been saying in the last week," said Jack Ablin of Cresset Wealth Advisors.

Tom Cahill of Ventura Wealth Management also attributed the market's partial recovery to viewing Trump's stance as a bargaining tactic, but "I'm a little more concerned than that," he said.

"The stock market was anticipating there would be some good news by Friday of this week, not necessarily a trade agreement, but something that really would solidify how close they are to a trade agreement," Cahill said.

"It is disappointing that we would have this kind of dialogue this late in the game."