Asian markets, the first to open since President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement, have seen big slides as investors react to a trade war poised to erupt.

Major Asian indexes all saw heavy losses throughout the day’s trade as The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell more than 2%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was down 0.7%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 2.8% lower, South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 3% and Australia’s ASX 200 fell 1.9%.

Markets in mainland China have remained closed for the Lunar New Year holiday, but with China being singled out for a 10% tariff on exports we can expect to see a similar downturn.

Currently, Beijing has not announced a plan of economic retaliation. Instead there have been calls to “meet China halfway” from the Chinese ministry of Commerce in negotiations around the upcoming implementation of duties.

Source: FINANCE.YAHOO