TOKYO – Asian shares fell Friday following a report that the Trump administration could put tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods as early as next week.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost nearly 0.2 per cent to 22,830.03 in early trading. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3 per cent to 6,334.10. South Korea’s Kospi was virtually unchanged, inching up a fraction of 0.1 per cent to 2,307.72. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 1.0 per cent at 27,881.95, while the Shanghai Composite index fell nearly 0.1 per cent to 2,735.51.

TRADE WORRIES: Worries about the recent trans-Pacific trade fiction have hurt Asian markets. Bloomberg News said the U.S. government was getting ready to ramp up its trade dispute with China. It has been threatening to tax $200 billion in Chinese imports for several months, which would represent a major escalation in the trade fight. The report sent shares falling on Wall Street.

WALL STREET: The S&P 500 index lost 12.91 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 2,901.13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 137.65 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 25,986.92. The Nasdaq composite slid 21.32 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 8,088.36. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks dipped 2.40 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 1,732.35.

ANALYST’S TAKE: “It is undoubtedly a morning of decline for Asia markets following the setback seen overnight on Wall Street from the bout of political tensions,” says Jingyi Pan, market strategist at IG in Singapore.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude fell 2 cents to $70.23 a barrel. It gained 1.4 per cent to $70.25 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, dipped 3 cents to $77.99 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 111.01 yen from 111.58 yen. The euro fell to $1.1666 from $1.1688.

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