Asian shares mostly fell Monday (Jul 7) as the Trump administration stepped up pressure on trading partners to quickly make new deals before a Wednesday tariff deadline, with plans for the United States to start sending letters warning countries that higher tariffs could take effect on Aug 1.

While the White House has said several deals were in the pipeline, only two have been finalised ahead of the Jul 9 cut-off set by Trump.

Governments from major trading partners, including Japan, India, the European Union and South Kore,a have fought for the past three months to get agreements.

But Trump said he will send his first tariff letters at 4pm GMT on Monday, setting out what Washington will charge for doing business with the United States.

He said an extra 10 per cent would be added to any country"aligning themselves with the anti-American policies of BRICS", an 11-member alliance including Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Tariff uncertainty weighed on equity markets, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, Wellington, Taipei, Mumbai and Bangkok all down, although there were small gains in Singapore, Seoul, Jakarta and Manila. Shanghai was flat.

“We expect markets to be volatile into the Jul 9 deadline when the 90-day pause on President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs expires for non-China trading partners,” the Nomura Group wrote in a commentary.

It said the near-term outlook will likely hinge on several key factors like the extent to which trading partners are included in Trump letters, the rate of tariffs, and the effective date of such tariffs.

A more distant implementation date might leave scope for some last-minute trade negotiations and maintain market optimism for potential resolutions or extensions, it added.

“With the Jul 9 tariff deadline fast approaching, all eyes are trained on Washington, scanning for signs of escalation or retreat. The path forward isn’t clear, but the terrain is littered with risk," Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

Oil prices slipped after Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major producers in the OPEC+ alliance said they would boost output far more than expected in August, fuelling demand worries just as Trump's tariffs are about to begin.

The group said"a steady global economic outlook and current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories" led to the decision to further hike output.