Europe’s stock markets have dropped sharply as investors weigh United States President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats against the European Union and Mexico.
Major European indices suffered heavy losses on Monday as EU ministers were set to discuss their response to Trump’s plans to impose a 30 percent tariff on the bloc’s goods from August 1.
Germany’s benchmark DAX had fallen nearly 0.9 percent as of 08:30 GMT, while France’s CAC 40, Italy’s FTSE MIB and Spain’s IBEX 35 were down 0.7 to 0.8 percent.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index dipped about 0.5 percent.
The United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 bucked the sell-off, rising about 0.2 percent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell about 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up by about the same amount.
US futures, which are traded outside of regular market hours, fell early on Monday, with those tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices both dropping more than 0.5 percent.
Markets are on edge ahead of Trump’s August 1 deadline for US trading partners to reach trade deals or face steep tariffs.
Despite months of negotiations, the Trump administration has so far announced agreements with only the UK, China and Vietnam.
EU officials have threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs on US goods worth about 100 billion euros ($117bn) if Brussels and Washington are unable to reach a deal.
The EU is the US’s largest trading partner, with their two-way trade in goods and services amounting to 1.7 trillion euros ($2 trillion) in 2024, according to the EU statistics agency Eurostat.
On Sunday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the bloc would delay retaliatory tariffs on the US to August to give officials more time to reach an agreement with the Trump administration.
“We have always been very clear that we prefer a negotiated solution,” von der Leyen said.
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