Asia markets slumped on Monday after Donald Trump slapped tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, sparking fears of another bruising ‘America First’ trade war that could hit global growth. Japan’s Nikkei plunged more than two percent at one point on Monday and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down more than one percent.

President Donald Trump said the sweeping tariffs that he has imposed on Mexico, Canada and China may cause "short term" pain for Americans as global markets reflected concerns the levies could undermine growth and reignite inflation.

Canada and Mexico ordered retaliatory tariffs on American goods in response to sweeping tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, and businesses and consumers in both countries questioned Sunday how the new trade war might affect them.