Europe midday: Shares slump as Trump threatens EU with 50% tariffs
By Frank Prenesti
Date: Friday 23 May 2025
(Sharecast News) - European markets slumped on Friday after US President Donald Trump said he wanted a 50% tariff on European Union imports from June 1and complained that the 27-nation bloc had been "very difficult" to deal with on trade talks.
The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was down more than 2% to 538, erasing morning gains. Britain's FTSE and Germany's DAX fell 1.2% and 2.5% respectively, while France's CAC-40 was down almost 3%.
In a typically bombastic social media post, Trump said: "Our discussions with them (the EU) are going nowhere!"
His announcement came shortly after he threatened to impose a tariff of at least 25% on tech giant Apple if the company did not start making iPhones in the US. Wall Street futures immediately nosedived on the news.
EU officials declined to comment. Trump's move comes in the middle of a 90-day pause in his global trade war which he started last month by slapping what he called "reciprocal" tariffs on all trading tariffs.
In economic news, Germany's economy performed better than expected in the first quarter, with growth unexpectedly picking up, according to revised estimates from the Federal Statistics Office on Friday.
Gross domestic product expanded by 0.4% over the first three months of 2025, compared with the initial estimate of 0.2% growth released last month.
This compares with the 0.2% economic contraction registered in the fourth quarter of 2024 and marked the strongest quarterly growth rate since the third quarter of 2022.
Meanwhile in the UK, retail sales rose more than expected in April, according to figures released on Friday by the Office for National Statistics.
Sales increased 1.2% on the month following a 0.1% jump in March, which was revised down from 0.4% growth. Analysts were expecting a 0.3% increase.
In equity news, auto transport products maker Thule Group jumped after an upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold' by broker Nordea.
Games Workshop fell as the Warhammer maker said it would not repeat record licensing revenues of £51m this fiscal year.
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com
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