Asia stocks dropped on Friday after a surprise tariff announcement from the United States overnight escalated trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that the U.S. is putting 10% tariffs on another $300 billion worth of Chinese goods starting Sept. 1.

In the wake of the unexpected move, mainland Chinese stocks tumbled on the day. The Shanghai composite fell 1.41% to about 2,867.84, the Shenzhen component slipped 1.42% to 9,136.46 and the Shenzhen composite shed 1.484% to approximately 1,539.86.

Over in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index declined 2.35% to close at 26,918.58.

Responding to Trump's latest salvo, China's foreign ministry said Friday that the country does not want a trade war with the U.S. but is unafraid of fighting one.

U.S.-China trade war developments have roiled markets for more than a year, and there have been signs the rafts of additional tariffs from both sides are having real effects on economies around the world. As has been the case for most other days featuring increased hostilities between Beijing and Washington, Friday saw all other major Asia Pacific stock markets recording losses.

In South Korea, the Kospi declined 0.95% to close at 1,998.13. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3% to finish the session Down Under at 6,768.60 despite the country posting its fastest retail sales growth in four months. And the closely watched MSCI Asia ex-Japan index, a broad measure of the region, declined 1.71%.

Notably, the losses for Japanese stocks surpassed even those seen in the mainland Chinese markets: The Nikkei 225 plunged 2.11% to close at 21,087.16 and the Topix index also fell 2.16% to end its trading session at 1,533.46.

In addition to the trade war-induced weakness around the region, Japan's shares may have been dragged lower by heightening tensions between Tokyo and Seoul.