European stock markets in the red due to threatening trade war with United States

The import duties on products from Mexico, Canada and China, who had previously announced US President Donald Trump, came into effect on Tuesday. Canada and China already hit back with extra taxes on American products. The fear that Europe will be the next target of Trumps taxes, the European stock exchanges pushed down on Tuesday.

The leading European index Stoxx 600 recorded around noon with a loss of more than 1 percent, after he had reached a record high at the previous trading day. The Dutch AEX index and the French CAC40 also went in red, the German DAX index more than 2 percent. In Brussels, the Bel20 held up better, with a loss of around 0.6 percent.

Among other things, the shares of car builders, such as Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen, were hit hard, just like those of suppliers. Volkswagen and Stellantis, for example, have factories in Mexico from which they sell cars in the United States. The Spanish banks BBVA and Santander, who are active in Mexico, also saw their shares fall.

The trade tensions and plans of the Oliek cartel OPEC+ to boost production, weighed on oil prices. The price for a barrel of brent oil from the North Sea decreased towards 70 dollars per barrel.