European shares slid on Monday, joining a worldwide selloff sparked by fears that U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China mark an opening salvo in a global trade war that would curb economic growth internationally. - REUTERS
Category
đź—ž
NewsTranscript
00:00Investors on Monday bought dollars, sold stocks and worried about inflation as a scramble
00:06ensued to assess the risk of a trade war after Donald Trump put tariffs on top US trading
00:12partners. Trump's ordered additional levies of 25% on imports from Mexico and most goods
00:18from Canada, as well as 10% on goods from China. They're set to take effect from Tuesday
00:24and will affect $1.3 trillion of goods or more than 40% of US imports. The pan-European
00:31stock 600 index was down over 1% in early trade, set for its biggest one-day slide this
00:37year. And the euro currency also dropped more than a percent. Cryptocurrencies and even
00:42the safe haven Japanese yen all took a hit as investors tried to second-guess the US
00:48president's next move. Japan's Nikkei share average ended the day down almost 3%, while
00:54stocks in Hong Kong, which include listings of Chinese companies, finished flat upon reopening
00:59from Lunar New Year holidays. Mainland Chinese markets resumed trading on Wednesday. Stocks
01:05of some of the biggest European carmakers plunged as concerns mounted over possible
01:10duties on EU imports. Stellantis and Volkswagen, which have major operations in Mexico, were
01:17down over 7% and 6% respectively, while Volvo Cars was also down over 7% in early trade.
01:25Canada's dollar skidded to a 20-year low on the greenback. Trump has said he would speak
01:29on Monday with the leaders of Canada and Mexico, both of which have announced retaliatory tariffs
01:34of their own. But he's downplayed expectations that they would change his mind, and has also
01:40said tariffs would definitely happen with the European Union, but did not say when.
01:47For more UN videos visit www.un.org