By Alexandra Gibbs, CNBC–

U.S. stock index futures paused ahead of Friday’s open, after the Dow Jones industrial average finished the previous session almost 200 points up.

Around 5:25 a.m. ET, Dow futures slipped 35 points, indicating a negative open of 29.74 points. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 futures indicated a relatively flat to downbeat start to their respective trading sessions.

Concerns surrounding trade resurfaced Friday, after U.S. tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods came into effect. Major economies around the world are braced now for a trade war.

China responded to the fresh tariffs by imposing its own retaliatory levies on imports from the States. A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce stated Friday that while Beijing had refused to “fire the first shot,” it was obligated to counter the U.S.’ actions after Washington “launched the largest trade war in economic history.”

Also keeping investors alert Friday is the latest round of nonfarm payrolls data. At 8:30 a.m. ET, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the numbers from June’s employment report.

According to a Reuters survey of economists, nonfarm payrolls are expected to have increased by 195,000 jobs during June. International trade data will also be released.

On Thursday, the Federal Reserve published the minutes from its June meeting, which revealed that Fed officials are concerned about letting the U.S. economy become too strong, as this could trigger major issues later on, if unchecked.

No major earnings are expected to be published Friday.

—CNBC’s Sam Meredith and Jeff Cox contributed to this report