European stock exchanges opened down on Friday, the day after announcements of massive tariffs on products imported into the United States, which has caused share prices and global markets to recoil faced with economic insecurity.
Ahead of a predicted retaliation by the European Union and other global economies, many of whom have been slapped with punitive tariffs by the US, the main European stock indices continued to fall: in the first trades of the morning, the Paris stock market opened 0.86% lower, 0.70% in Frankfurt, 0.86% in Zurich and 1.55% in Milan.
In the US, Wall Street reacted negatively to US President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs. The S&P 500 indexed opened 3.4% lower on Thursday – its worst day of trading since September 2022. The Dow Jones index slumped 2.8%, while the Nasdaq dropped by 4.8%.
Shares of major companies, such as Nike and Apple, saw their share price decrease by 11% and 8%, respectively.
On Wednesday, Trump announced a minimum import tariff of 10% on all goods from abroad, as well as a host of other retaliatory tariffs on specific goods from abroad. This includes levies on European alcohol, vehicles and other manufactured goods.
