European stocks close with losses ahead of US tariff announcement

By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - European stock markets ended Wednesday down as US President Donald Trump is set to announce reciprocal tariffs at 2000GMT.

“The world has been ripping off the United States for the last 40 years and more,” Trump told NBC over the weekend. “All we’re doing is being fair.”

He earlier declared April 2 would be “LIBERATION DAY IN AMERICA!"

Earlier on Wednesday, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Italian producers would be hit hard by new US tariffs and every effort should be made to avoid a trade war.

"It is clear that the introduction of new tariffs would have heavy repercussions for Italian producers," Meloni said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that jumping into a trade war with the US "cannot be the first response of the UK," expressing that his government has been preparing for all eventualities ahead of the confirmation of US tariffs.

"A trade war is in nobody's interests... we will take a calm, pragmatic approach," he said.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 0.5% or 2.72 points to 536.92.

Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.3%, or 26.32 points, to close the day at 8,608.48, while Germany's DAX 40 index fell 0.66%, or 149.14 points, to 22,390.84.

France's CAC 40 also fell 0.22%, or 17.53 points, to 7,858.83, and Italy's FTSE MIB 30 index slipped 0.27% to 38,454.2 in a 103.18-point fall.