Most Asian equity markets struggled on Friday, despite record highs for Wall Street overnight, as U.S. President Donald Trump's deadline for trade deals loomed next week.

Asian shares traded in a tight range Friday as renewed trade tensions ahead of next week’s deadline for higher levies outweighed a record-extending rally in US stocks. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index swung between minor gains and losses.

President Donald Trump said Washington will start sending letters to countries on Friday specifying what tariff rates they will face on imports to the United States, a clear shift from earlier pledges to strike scores of individual deals.

Figures show record $24.2bn raised from the levies in May but highlight potential for distortion to global trade flows

Duties on imports from dozens of countries would jump if the 90-day pause imposed in April expires July 9 as scheduled.

President Donald Trump’s two-tiered trade deal with Vietnam aims squarely at practices China has long used to skirt US tariffs: The widespread legal shifting of production to Southeast Asian factories and the murkier and illegal “origin washing” of exports through their ports.