Stocks in Europe are trading higher after U.S. President Donald Trump delayed a threatened 50% tariff on all goods from the European Union.
Trump had said on social media that trade talks with the European Union “were going nowhere” and that “straight 50%” tariffs could go into effect on June 1.
The U.S. president has now pushed that deadline out to July 9 and said trade talks with the European Union will resume shortly, news that has sent stocks higher.
Trump announced the decision to push back the higher import duties on European goods after a call with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.
According to Trump, European officials now “want to get down to serious negotiations” related to trade. U.S. markets are closed today (May 26) for the Memorial Day holiday.
In Europe, Germany’s DAX index rose 1.7% to 24,020.48 and the CAC 40 in France gained 1.3% to reach 7,830.99 on news of the tariff delay.
In Asian trading, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index climbed 1% to 37,531.53, while the Kospi in South Korea increased 2% to 2,644.40.
On May 23, U.S. stocks fell sharply as traders weighed whether Trump’s latest tariff threats were legitimate or the latest negotiating tactics from the American president.
The benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.7% to end its worst week in the last seven, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6% and the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite index sank 1%.
Trump’s tariff threats continue to roil financial markets around the world.
The S&P 500 fell 20% below its record high in April of this year when worries were at their height about whether Trump’s tariffs would cause a global recession.
However, the index has since climbed back within 3% of its all-time high after Trump paused his tariffs on many countries, notably China.
