European stocks continued to decline today. Markets remain concerned about the weekend announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump that, as part of his effort to acquire Greenland, he plans to impose additional tariffs on some European countries.
Markets under pressure from uncertainty
The pan-European STOXX Europe 600 index, which tracks trading on exchanges in the UK and selected European Union countries, was down about 0.8 percent around 9:45 a.m. CET, hovering near 602 points. On Monday, it fell by 1.2 percent.
On Saturday, Trump announced that from February 1 he intends to impose an additional ten-percent tariff on Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, which are EU members, as well as on the UK and Norway. According to Trump, these countries opposed his desire to acquire Greenland. If no agreement is reached by June that would allow the United States to obtain Greenland, the tariff would increase to as much as 25 percent.
Reaction of analysts and European institutions
Some analysts, however, have expressed doubts that Trump will carry out his threats. “We doubt that (the tariffs) will be implemented as announced,” said Andrew Kenningham, Chief Europe Economist at Capital Economics, according to Reuters. Kenningham also expressed the view that the EU would approach any retaliatory measures cautiously in order to avoid further escalation of the dispute. On Monday, the European Commission said that the EU would like to avoid an escalation of the dispute with the United States and find a solution, but is ready to take retaliatory measures if the tariffs are introduced.
Germany’s main stock index DAX was down nearly one percent around 9:45 a.m. CET, trading near 24,715 points. Last week, it climbed to a record high of 25,507.79 points. France’s CAC 40 index was losing nearly 0.9 percent. Trump also threatened France with the introduction of a 200-percent tariff on French wine and champagne. He did so because, according to media reports, French President Emmanuel Macron does not want to join his Peace Council.
Source: ČTK
