Pedestrians shelter from the rain under umbrellas as they pass the Elizabeth Tower, commonly known as the clock bell, “Big Ben”, at the Palace of Westminster, the seat of Parliament, in London, February 22, 2024.
Henry Nicholls | AFP | Getty Images
LONDON — European stock markets opened broadly lower on Friday after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose “much higher” tariffs on the EU.
Shortly after the opening bell, the Pan-European Assembly Stoxx 600 was down 0.8%, with all sectors and major regional exchanges in negative territory.
In an article published Thursday evening on Truth Social, Trump said he was “patiently waiting for the EU to uphold its side of the historic trade deal” reached last July, when the U.S. and E.U. reached a deal to lower tariffs on the European trade bloc from a threatened 30% to 15%.
In his message on Thursday, Trump said the EU had promised to “uphold its side of the deal” and reduce tariffs on US goods to zero.
“I agreed to give it until the 250th anniversary of our country, otherwise, unfortunately, their tariffs would immediately rise to much higher levels,” he said of a call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
In February, after Trump said he would impose a 15% global tariff after the Supreme Court struck down his reciprocal tariff regime, a top EU trade lawmaker said CNBC and the United States have violated the terms of the agreement “repeatedly.”
Legislators in Brussels on pause a parliamentary vote on the trade deal following threats from Trump, with one official blasting the president’s decision as “pure tariff chaos.”
The US-Iran war also remains in focus, with both sides commercial fire overnight. In a phone call with an ABC News reporter, Trump said the strikes were “just a love affair” and insisted the fragile ceasefire between the two sides was still in effect.
Back in Europe, the United Kingdom counts the votes in the municipal elections. Initial results show losses for the ruling Labor Party and its main opposition, the Conservative Party. The right-wing Reform UK and the left-wing Greens are expected to make significant progress.
Votes are still being counted, but Labor’s heavy losses are expected to raise questions about Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s already fragile leadership.
Yields on British government bonds, known as gilts, were little changed in early trading Friday, while sterling was up about 0.2% against the U.S. dollar.
