* BHP hits lowest in over two weeks
* Benchmark on-track for weekly loss
By Susan Mathew
March 2 (Reuters) - Australian shares fell on Friday, withminer BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) leading losses after President Donald Trumpannounced U.S. import tariffs on steel and aluminium, hittingcommodity prices and raising concerns about a potential tradewar.
Declines were across the board on the S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO , which fell 0.7 percent, or 44.1 points, to 5,929.2 by0103 GMT, on track for a third straight session of losses. Thebenchmark finished Thursday 0.7 percent lower. The index is setto log a weekly loss, snapping two straight weeks of gains.
"The challenge has been thrown out to world trade given thetariffs, and Australia, apart from Canada, is probably the mostexposed to commodity prices," said Mathan Somasundaram, marketportfolio strategist at Blue Ocean Equities. "Any kind ofchallenge to world trade and global growth means there is realrisk for our markets."
BHP dropped as much as 1.6 percent to its lowest in over twoweeks. BHP's American Depository Receipts BHP.N closed 1.7percent lower on Thursday.
Steel futures SRBcv1 and iron ore DCIOcv1 on the DalianCommodities exchange closed 1 percent lower each in theirprevious session. IRONORE/
Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) RIO.AX fell 1.2 percent, while world number fouriron ore miner Fortescue Metals FMG.AX dropped up to 1percent.
Sentiment seeped into other sectors with the Australianfinancial index .AXFJ falling 0.5 percent, in tandem with itsU.S. counter part's .SPSY 1.9 percent drop.
The "Big 4" banks were lower between 0.2 and 0.8 percent.
Healthcare stock CSL Ltd CSL.AX , which has significantU.S. exposure, shed 1 percent.
On the other side of the spectrum, Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX gained as much as 1.2 percent after the Australiancompetition regulator said it would allow Chevron (NYSE:CVX) CVX.N , INPEX 1605.T , Shell RDSa.L , and Woodside to coordinate maintenanceactivities at their liquefied natural gas facilities in WesternAustralia and the Northern Territory. in gold stocks helped cap losses on the benchmark,with Newcrest Mining NCM.AX rising 1 percent, as gold rosemarginally on safety buying.
New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 was 51.24points, or 0.6 percent, lower at 8,291.47.
Dairy company a2 Milk ATM.NZ and healthcare stock Fisher &Paykel FPH.NZ were the biggest drags on the index down over 2percent each, while outdoor retailer Kathmandu Holdings KMD.NZ was the worst performer, down 4.1 percent.
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