European stocks end with losses as Trump confirms auto tariffs

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - European stock markets closed Thursday down as US President Donald Trump signed an executive order late Wednesday imposing 25% tariffs on auto and light truck imports.

"What we're going to be doing is a 25% tariff on all cars that are not made in the United States. If they're made in the United States, there’s absolutely no tariff," he told reporters at the Oval Office.

Trump also threatened the EU and China with “large scale” tariffs if they work together to economically harm the US.

“If the European Union works with Canada in order to do economic harm to the USA, large scale Tariffs, far larger than currently planned, will be placed on them both in order to protect the best friend that each of those two countries has ever had!,” Trump said in a post on the social media platform Truth Social.

The tariffs were criticized by Germany's Economy Minister Robert Habeck on Thursday, who warned that the newly announced US tariffs on cars and auto parts would have negative consequences for both sides of the Atlantic.

“This is bad news for German automakers, for the German economy, for the EU, but also for the United States,” Habeck said in a statement. “It will disrupt global supply chains and will also make US cars more expensive. Prices in the US will continue to rise.”

Following these developments, the Stoxx Europe's autos index was down nearly 1%, with Jeep maker Stellantis shedding 4.2%, Mercedes-Benz down 2.7% and Germany’s BMW down 2.55%.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 0.44% or 2.42 points to 546.31.

Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.27% – 23.47 points – to close the day at 8,666.12, while Germany's DAX 40 index fell 0.7%, or 160.29 points, to 22,678.74.

France's CAC 40 also fell 0.51%, or 40.57 points, to 7,990.11.

Meanwhile, Italy's FTSE MIB 30 index was slightly up by 0.1% to 39,098.86 in a 40.76-point rise.