U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press earlier than boarding Marine One on the South Garden of the White Home on Jan. 16, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Tom Brenner | Getty Pictures
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened a rising wave of tariffs on a number of European allies, elevating the alarm for industries and companies throughout the area.
Trump on Saturday pledged to impose 10% tariffs on the U.Ok., Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Finland by Feb. 1, ramping up his push to make Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory, part of the USA.
The levy on these nations will rise to 25% from June 1, Trump mentioned.
European political leaders are set to carry emergency talks over the approaching days as they contemplate their response, with retaliatory measures and broader punitive financial insurance policies reportedly on the desk.
CNBC takes a have a look at a few of the sectors anticipated to be probably the most uncovered to Trump’s tariff threats.
Autos
Europe’s automobile giants, which have been hit arduous by Trump’s back-and-forth commerce insurance policies final yr, are thought-about to be extremely uncovered as soon as once more.
The automotive sector is broadly considered acutely weak to levies, significantly given the excessive globalization of provide chains and the heavy reliance on manufacturing operations throughout North America.
Germany’s Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz Group have been all buying and selling greater than 2.5% decrease on Monday morning, with Milan-listed Stellantis final seen down by round 2.1%.
Mohit Kumar, chief European economist at Jefferies, mentioned Trump’s tariffs clearly characterize a damaging improvement for Germany’s financial outlook, a rustic historically seen as Europe’s development engine.
“If we do get tariffs, and, after all, now we have to see how the geopolitical state of affairs pans out, then … the chemical compounds, industrials, autos sectors, these would be the most impacted, which immediately feeds to German development,” Kumar informed CNBC’s “Europe Early Version” on Monday.
Of the eight European nations threatened by Trump’s Greenland tariffs, Germany, by far, enjoys the best commerce surplus with the U.S., adopted by France and the U.Ok., in line with information from Eurostat, the EU’s statistical workplace.
Luxurious
Luxurious shares have been seen as largely sheltered from U.S.-EU commerce tensions within the first quarter of final yr, given their strong pricing energy and talent to go on added prices to shoppers.
Analysts warned on the time, nevertheless, that the prospect of tariffs ushering in a broader financial downturn may have spillover results, even for the wealthiest consumers.
A Christian Dior luxurious retailer in Paris on July 22, 2025.
Cyril Marcilhacy/Bloomberg through Getty Pictures
Alongside seven different European nations, Trump’s proposed tariffs single out France, which is house to the likes of trade bellwether LVMH and Kering.
Shares of LVMH and Kering fell round 3.5% and a couple of.6% on Monday morning. Luxurious teams, together with Switzerland’s Richemont, Italy’s Brunello Cucinelli, and Britain’s Burberry, have been additionally buying and selling decrease.
Pharma
Europe’s pharma sector may face a major affect from the proposed U.S. tariffs, provided that medicines and pharma merchandise characterize the EU’s largest export to the U.S.
EU exports of pharma merchandise to the U.S. got here in at 84.4 billion euros ($98.1 billion) throughout the first three quarters of final yr, forward of equipment and mechanical elements (68.3 billion euros) and natural chemical compounds (66.3 billion euros) over the identical interval, in line with Eurostat information.
A few of the sector’s largest European names fell barely on Trump’s newest tariff threats on Monday morning.
Denmark’s Novo Nordisk was 2.1% decrease, Switzerland’s Roche dipped 0.3% decrease, and France’s Sanofi fell 0.9% throughout early offers. Swiss-based Novartis, in the meantime, traded 0.3% increased.
Vitality
Europe’s oil and fuel shares is also not directly impacted by Trump’s newest tariff threats, on account of components reminiscent of weaker international demand, decrease crude costs and elevated provide chain prices.
Oil costs have been final seen buying and selling barely decrease amid heightened issues of a commerce battle between the U.S. and Europe — and what this might imply for international demand.
Norway’s Equinor was among the many vitality shares main the sector’s losses on Monday, down round 3.4%. France’s TotalEnergies, Britain’s Shell, and BP fell between 1% and 1.5%, respectively.
Storage tanks on the Northern Lights carbon seize and storage undertaking, managed by Equinor ASA, Shell Plc and TotalEnergies SE, at Blomoyna, Norway, on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Pictures
Ozan Özkural, founder and managing companion at Tanto Capital, mentioned Trump’s newest tariff threats mustn’t have been sudden, warning of a broad affect for European sectors.
“Welcome to 2026. I believe that is going to be the form of yr that we’re going to speak much more about what it means to not have the U.S. play ball with the normal allies,” Özkural informed CNBC’s “Squawk Field Europe” on Monday.
“It may have an effect on oil costs, commodity costs, fairness markets, debt markets, personal credit score. You title it, now we have it,” Özkural mentioned.
