Frankfurt/Tokyo, 7 April 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Asian markets plunged on Monday and Germany's key DAX index opened 10% lower as US President Donald Trump appeared over the weekend to be unwilling to budge on his controversial tariffs.

The Nikkei 225 index plummeted around 8% to settle at 31,029 points in just the first 20 minutes of trading and closed at 31,136, down 7.83%.

In Seoul, stocks declined sharply, with the Kospi average finishing on Monday down 5.57% at 2,328.20, extending losses for a fourth consecutive day.

Regarding the turbulence in the stock markets, Trump said "I don't want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something."

Trump also bitterly complained again about the US trade deficit with China and said, "Unless we solve that problem I'm not gonna make a deal."

He also complained about trade with European countries, which he claimed have a significant trade surplus with the US. He alleged that they had treated the United States "very, very badly" and made a fortune as a result. He claimed that the European Union was founded for one reason "to rip off the United States."

Trump's administration has implemented a blanket minimum 10% tariff on imports from all countries, with even steeper tariffs set to take effect on Wednesday for nations with which the US has higher trade deficits.

Japan is particularly affected, facing tariffs of 24%, while European Union countries like Germany will see tariffs of 20%.

But Trump also said that many leading politicians from Europe, Asia had spoken to him over the weekend about cutting a deal with the US and said if they want to talk, he'd be open to discussions.

But earlier in the day he backed his tariff plan with posts on his Truth Social platform.

"The only way this problem can be cured is with TARIFFS," he wrote, adding that the tariffs "are now bringing Tens of Billions of Dollars into the U.S.A."

Most economists agree that Trump's plan is an affront to the current international trading order and will end up costing consumers in the US - and elsewhere - dearly.

But Trump disagreed.

"Some day people will realize that Tariffs, for the United States of America, are a very beautiful thing."

The stock market turmoil has wiped out billions in private investors' wealth – particularly in the United States - where many people are invested in the stock market. As a result, public discontent has grown significantly and there were demonstrations across the US on Sunday.

Despite the criticism, the US government initially stuck to its global tariff package. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told NBC that the tariffs were not something that could be negotiated away within days or weeks.

European Union trade ministers are meeting in Luxembourg on Monday to sound out a strategy to convince Trump to backtrack on new tariffs imposed on the bloc.

MIA file photo