European markets open higher, shrugging off tariff threats

European stocks rose at the start of trading today, shrugging off threats by US President Donald Trump to impose new tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports, threatening to ignite a trade war.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said today that the European Union will respond to US President Donald Trump’s latest announcement of tariffs.

Barrot told TF1 that France and its European partners should not hesitate to defend their interests in the face of US tariff threats.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.22% to 543.97 points.