European stocks close with gains as Trump hints at softer tariffs

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - European stock markets ended Tuesday up as US President Donald Trump signaled he is considering imposing a lower tariff rate on "a lot of countries," bolstering hopes for relative stability in global trade.

"I may give a lot of countries breaks, but it's reciprocal. But we might be even nicer than that. You know, we've been very nice to a lot of countries for a long time, but I call it Liberation Day. April 2 is Liberation Day," Trump said, referring to his deadline.

"We may take less than what they're charging because they've charged us so much; I don't think they could take it. In other words, they've charged us so much that I'm embarrassed to charge them what they've charged us, but it'll be substantial, and you'll be hearing about that on April 2," he added.

On the other hand, Italy's President Sergio Mattarella stressed on Tuesday that the EU has the strength to counter possible tariffs by the US.

"We have to be calm without feeding excessive concerns, because the EU has the strength to calmly, authoritatively intervene to counter an unjustified decision such as the imposition of tariffs," he said.

However, he also stressed that the bloc needs reforms in the face of present and future challenges, particularly in the domain of decision-making.

“Swift and timely responses are needed. Europe needs to update itself,” he said.

Meanwhile, the surge in Germany's business sentiment also positively affected the stocks; the figure rose to 86.7 in March from 85.3 in February, according to the Ifo Institute.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 0.67% or 3.66 points to 552.59.

Germany's DAX 40 index grew 1.13%, or 257.13 points, to 23,109.79, while Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.3%—25.79 points—to 8,663.8.

France's CAC 40 also climbed 1.08%, or 86.26 points, to 8,108.59, and Italy's FTSE MIB 30 index soared 1.06% to 39,384.95 in a 412.14-point rise.