China World Trade Center.
Dukai Photographer | Moment opens | Getty Images
Japanese stocks fell almost 2% to lead the decline in the Asia-Pacific market after US President Donald Trump revealed that tariffs in Mexico and Canada would be implemented as planned.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index plummeted 1.71%, while the wider Topix index lost 1.03%.
Japan's employment rate in January was 2.5%, slightly higher than Reuters' estimate of 2.4%.
South Korea's Kospi index remained flat in choppy trade, but the small Kosdaq retreated by 0.92%.
Country retail sales in January fell 0.6% from the previous month. The revised estimates show a 0.2% increase in metrics for December.
Hong Kong's Hangsen index fell 0.18% in choppy trade.
Investors will maintain their clock on Chinese stocks ahead of the country's annual parliamentary rally known as the “two sessions.” Mainland China's CSI 300 index fell 0.17%.
Australia S&P/ASX 200 Finished a 0.58% lower day at 8,198.10.
The country's retail sales rose 0.3% in January, in line with Reuters estimates. Retail sales fell 0.1% in December.
The Indian benchmark Nifty 50 fell 0.25%, while the BSE Sensex index lost 0.21%.
All three key indicators fell overnight in the US as Trump repeated overnight that 25% collection of imports from Mexico and Canada would come into effect Tuesday.
The S&P 500 fell 1.76% to close the day at 5,849.72. This marks the worst day since December, leading to a loss of around 0.5% from the start of the year. The Dow Jones industrial average ended at 43,191.24, with 649.67 points (1.48%). Nasdaq composites were slid at 18,350.19 by 2.64%, squeezed by a reduction of over 8% in Nvidia.
-CNBC's Alex Harring and Yun Li contributed to this report.
