Source: Sharecast
"Trade policy continues to top the list of investor concerns," said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor.
"One of the many reasons why markets dislike uncertainty is the inability to foresee the immediate future given the wider economic backdrop, something which is currently nigh on impossible given the fluctuating messages coming from the White House on an almost daily basis," he said.
News that consumer prices in China fell more than expected in February was also weighing on sentiment, with the Shanghai Composite declining 0.2% and the Hang Seng dropping 1.9%.
The National Bureau of Statistics said that Chinese consumer prices fell for the first time in 13 months, decreasing at an annual rate of 0.7%, compared with inflation of 0.5% in January and the consensus forecast of -0.5%. Food prices in particular dropped 3.3% year-on-year after growing by 0.4% the previous month.
Elsewhere, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 0.4% as the country's trade minister flew to Washington to discuss measures to escape additional tariffs on Japanese exports.
“Taking into account the voices we have heard from the industrial sector, we would like to hold discussions that will be a win-win for both Japan and the US," minister Yoji Muto said last week.
Further afield, South Korea's KOSPI benchmark rose 0.3%, India's Sensex fell 0.3%, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia rose 0.2%.