Australian shares tumble 2% as Trump tariffs on China rattle investors

Feb 3 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell 2% on Monday, as investors fled stocks with heavy exposure to China after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Australia's top trading partner, with firms exposed to Canada and Mexico also getting hammered.

The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO fell as much as 2% to 8,364.20 by 2330 GMT, slipping from its record close of 8,532.30 scaled on Friday.

Heavyweight miners .AXMM, which make up about a quarter of the benchmark, declined 1.9% as their heavy exposure to China made them vulnerable to the potential impact of U.S. tariffs on demand for commodities from the world's second-biggest economy.

Iron ore mining giants BHP Group BHP.AX, Rio Tinto RIO.AX and Fortescue FMG.AX, which ship the bulk of their product to China, lost about 2% each.

Trump's decision to impose 10% tariffs on U.S. imports from China and 25% duties on imports from Canada and Mexico is likely to trigger a rout in global equities on fears of retaliatory measures and a full-blown trade war.

"The overall impact of the weekend's announcement... is a contraction in global trade and higher inflation, which is a headwind for equities," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note.

Gold miner St Barbara SBM.AX declined as much as 4%, while uranium miner Paladin Energy PDN.AX plunged 6%. Both firms have operations in Canada.

Financials .AXFJ slumped 2%. Tech .AXIJ and healthcare .AXHJ stocks fell about 2% each.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 slipped as much as 1.9% to 12,746.140, its lowest since mid-December.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare FPH.NZ lost as much as 8.52% to its lowest since late August, after the respiratory care products maker warned of higher costs arising from the tariffs on Mexico.

On Friday, the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 0.75% to 44,544.66. The S&P 500 .SPX, .SPX lost 0.50%, while the Nasdaq .IXIC slipped 0.28%.

Brent crude LCOc1 futures rose 0.98% to $76.40 a barrel in early hours on Monday, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate $(WTI)$ crude CLc1 gained 2.32% to $74.21 per barrel.

(Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

((Sameer.Manekar@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sameer_manekar))

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