Asian markets reflected investors' continuing concerns about the economic downturn caused by President Trump's trade policies.
Asian stock prices fell sharply for a second straight day on Friday, and futures market trading suggested U.S. stocks could soon fall further as concerns grow about the economic impact of President Trump's sweeping tariffs.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 3.8 percent. That followed a 2.8 percent drop on Thursday after Mr Trump announced a far-reaching overhaul of US tariffs that included an extra 24 percent on Japanese goods.
In South Korea, the Kospi index fell 1.7 percent on Friday after falling 0.8 percent the previous day. President Trump this week imposed a 26 percent tariff on imports from South Korea.
US stock prices have fallen faster than other markets since Mr Trump's inauguration, and their underperformance looks set to continue on Friday. S&P 500 futures fell 2.2 per cent on Friday.
The S&P 500 suffered its biggest one-day drop since 2020 on Thursday, falling 4.8%.
Investors were already on edge over the potential disruption Mr Trump's policies could have on the economy. His announcement on Wednesday, which included a 10 per cent minimum tax on almost all imports, sent markets trembling as investors dumped stocks and sought refuge in government bonds.
Shares in Southeast Asia were particularly hard hit after Mr Trump's tariffs hit hard countries that process many Chinese components for the US market, thus far bypassing US tariffs on goods coming directly from China. Vietnam's stock market fell again on Friday after falling the previous day.
Mr Trump announced on Wednesday a 46 per cent tariff on goods from Vietnam, among the highest he has imposed on any country. For every dollar of US goods imported by Vietnam Last year, it exported about $11 worth of goods to the United States. Many of those exports were made using components imported from China.
Stock markets in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Taipei were closed on Friday for a local holiday.
Keith Bradsher is The Times's Beijing bureau chief. He previously served as bureau chief in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Detroit, and was a Washington correspondent. He has lived and worked in mainland China during the pandemic. More about Keith Bradsher
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