TOKYO (AFP)

Asian markets took a huge plunge Monday as US futures pointed to significant losses on Wall Street over Donald Trump's tariffs, even as countries sought compromise with the president.

Trump said Sunday he was intentionally engineering a sell-off and insisted he could not foresee market reactions, saying he would not make a deal with other countries unless trade deficits were solved.

"Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something," he said of the market pain that has seen trillions of dollars wiped off the value of US companies since the introduction of his tariffs.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, he added that he had sought to resolve the issue with world leaders over the weekend.

China retaliated against the United States on Friday, announcing it would impose tariffs of 34 percent on all US goods from April 10 after Asian markets closed last week.

Stocks in Asia took a heavy hammering when trading resumed.

In early trade on Monday in Japan the Nikkei 225 was off 6.5 percent, while stocks in Taiwan were down almost 10 percent, and in Singapore 8.5 percent.

Futures contracts for the New York Stock Exchange's main boards were sharply down Sunday, suggesting more pain for battered Wall Street stocks when markets open Monday, while US oil dropped below $60 a barrel for the first time since April 2021.