Asia-Pacific markets set to fall as Trump confirms tariffs to proceed next week

Asia-Pacific markets are set to open lower on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada will be going ahead and taking effect next week.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 traded 0.23% lower.

Japan's Nikkei 225 futures pointed to a lower open for the market. The futures contract in Chicago is currently at 37,695 and its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 37,580 compared to the index's previous close of 38,256.17.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures were at 23,715, also slightly weaker than the HSI's last close of 23,718.29.

Japan is slated to release its industrial output and retail sales data for January on Friday.

On Thursday, Trump announced that proposed tariffs on 25% on Canada and Mexico will be implemented on March 4 after a month-long postponement. The president said that these countries had not sufficiently reduced the flow of drugs across the border.

Additionally, Trump also said that China, which already faces 10% U.S. tariffs on its products, "will likewise be charged an additional 10% Tariff on that date."

Overnight in the U.S., the three major indexes closed lower. The S&P 500 closed down 1.59% at 5,861.57. The broad market index remains in the red for the week and month. The Nasdaq Composite pulled back 2.78%, to end the day at 18,544.42, with Nvidia's 8.5% slide pulling the tech-heavy index lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 193.62 points, or 0.45%, to finish at 43,239.50.

—CNBC's Hakyung Kim and Pia Singh contributed to this report.