European markets have opened with heavy losses as traders on the continent react to the Trump administration’s global 10% base level tariffs and 20% levies on the European Union.
The STOXX Europe 600 Index — a basket of Europe’s largest companies — was down around 1.8% shortly after the open, with Germany’s DAX index the worst hit among the bourses of Europe’s major economies. That’s no surprise given that Germany is the continent’s industrial powerhouse.
The European companies whose share prices have been worst hit by the fresh taxes are retailers popular in the U.S. such as jewelry manufacturer Pandora and sportswear brands Adidas and Puma — stocks in all three companies had dropped 10% shortly after markets opened.
But it’s perhaps in heavy industry where European business will feel the worst of the pain. Engineering firm Siemens was down 4% and steel-maker Thyssen Krupp fell 3.4%. German carmakers — after President Trump imposed huge new tariffs on foreign car imports — suffered losses, with Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Stellantis all down 2% or more.
The U.K.’s major index, the FTSE 100, suffered comparatively small losses of 1.3%. With Trump imposing just the 10% base tariff rate on the British economy, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told journalists that “nobody wins in a trade war, that is not in our national interest. We have a fair and balanced trade relationship with the US.”
Starmer added that the U.K. would only make a trade deal with Trump “if it is in our national interest and if it is the right thing to do for the security of working people, protects the pound in their pocket that they have worked hard to earn”.
