Markets down on Monday after threat to impose up to 25% tariffs on eight European countries over Greenland<\/b>
\nMarkets down on Monday after threat to impose up to 25% tariffs on eight European countries over Greenland
Rachel Reeves has pulled out of a planned appearance at the London Stock Exchange to celebrate a \u201cnew golden age\u201d for the City, after Donald Trump\u2019s threat to implement tariffs until the US is allowed to buy Greenland.
The chancellor\u2019s withdrawal from the event, which was designed to be a celebration of business in the UK after the FTSE 100 rose above the 10,000 mark for the first time, came as markets opened down on Monday morning after the US president\u2019s threat.
In the UK, the FTSE 100 fell 0.4% after stock markets closed down overnight in Asia as investors turned to safe haven assets such as gold and silver.
France\u2019s Cac 40 fell 1.6%, Germany\u2019s Dax was down 1.4% and Spain\u2019s Ibex 35 fell nearly 1% in early trading.
The Treasury confirmed Reeves would not attend the event at the stock exchange in the City.
Reeves instead attended a press conference with Keir Starmer, at Downing Street on Monday morning, where the prime minister said the dispute with Trump\u2019s US over Greenland must be resolved through \u201ccalm discussion between allies\u201d.
The event at the exchange went ahead without Reeves, fronted by Julia Hoggett, the chief executive of the LSE, with ticker tape showering the financial hub as the market opened.
On Saturday, Trump threatened a 25% tariff on eight European countries \u2013 including Denmark, Germany, France and the UK \u2013 until the US is allowed to purchase Greenland.
Trump said he would impose a 10% tariff on the seven nations beginning 1 February, \u201con any and all goods sent to the United States of America\u201d, with an increase to 25% on 1 June.
\u201cThere will be hundreds of different opinions on how this will all pan out but remember that the tariffs announced on \u2018liberation day\u2019 were ultimately softened a week later,\u201d said analysts at Deutsche Bank. \u201cThat said, as it stands the tariff threats are real, and would be economically and geopolitically damaging.\u201d
In the US, markets will be closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr Day.<\/p>\n