I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” Trump told reporters on Sunday.

Asian markets plunged on Monday following last week's two-day meltdown on Wall Street, and President Donald Trump said he won't back down on the sweeping new tariffs he announced on April 2 that have roiled global trade.

Major stock indexes plunged in Asia on Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump showed no sign of backing away from his sweeping tariff plans, and investors bet the mounting risk of recession could see the Federal Reserve cutting rates as early as May.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he won’t back down on his sweeping tariffs on imports from most of the world unless countries even out their trade with the U.S., digging in on his plans to implement the taxes that have sent financial markets reeling,

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost nearly 8% shortly after the market opened. An hour later it was down 7.1% at 31,375.71. South Korea’s Kospi lost 5.5% to 2,328.52, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 tumbled 6.

A brutal day in China, Taiwan, Japan and for other major U.S. trading partners extended last week’s market turmoil, with more declines expected when trading starts in New York.