Trump tariffs, Japan retail sales

Asia-Pacific markets opened lower on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada will be going ahead and taking effect next week.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.86% lower.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.9% in its first hour of trade, and the Topix lost 0.68%. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.54% while the small-cap Kosdaq traded 1.69% lower.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 23,715, also slightly weaker than the HSI’s last close of 23,718.29.

On Thursday, Trump announced that proposed tariffs on 25% on Canada and Mexico will be implemented on March 4 after a month-long postponement. The president said that these countries had not sufficiently reduced the flow of drugs across the border.

Additionally, Trump also said that China, which already faces 10% U.S. tariffs on its products, “will likewise be charged an additional 10% Tariff on that date.”

Overnight in the U.S., the three major indexes closed lower. The S&P 500 closed down 1.59% at 5,861.57. The broad market index remains in the red for the week and month. The Nasdaq Composite pulled back 2.78%, to end the day at 18,544.42, with Nvidia’s 8.5% slide pulling the tech-heavy index lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 193.62 points, or 0.45%, to finish at 43,239.50.

—CNBC’s Hakyung Kim and Pia Singh contributed to this report.