Most stock markets in the Gulf fell in early trade on Tuesday as new U.S. tariffs threatened to escalate global trade tensions, while Saudi Aramco's disappointing earnings weighed on investor sentiment.

U.S. President Donald Trump's new 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada took effect on Tuesday, along with a doubling of duties on Chinese goods to 20%, launching new trade conflicts with the top three U.S. trading partners.

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index dropped 1.1%, with Saudi Aramco retreating 2.2%, following a drop in annual profit.

The oil behemoth on Tuesday reported a net profit of $106.2 billion in 2024, down from $121.3 billion in 2023.

Aramco said it expects to declare total dividends of $85.4 billion in 2025, a near 30% drop from payouts in 2024 as it faced lower sales and higher costs.

The firm also declared $200 million in performance-linked dividends to be paid in the first quarter of 2025, a steep decline from the nearly $10.8 billion declared for each quarter of 2024.

Dubai's main share index fell 0.2%, hit by a 2.2% fall in Tecom Group and a 0.4% decrease in blue-chip developer Emaar Properties.

The Qatari benchmark was down 0.4%, with petrochemical maker Industries Qatar losing 0.8% and the Gulf's biggest lender, Qatar National Bank, dropping 0.4%.

In Abu Dhabi, the index added 0.3%, helped by a 3.1% jump in petrochemical firm Borouge.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and Austria's OMV will merge their polyolefin businesses to create a $60 billion chemicals powerhouse, the companies said.

The merged entity, Borouge Group International, will combine two joint ventures: Borealis, 75% owned by OMV and 25% by ADNOC, and Borouge, 54% owned by ADNOC and 36% by Borealis.

(Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrew Heavens)