US President Donald Trump will hold bilateral talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly to be held in New York City on September 23, 2025.
Brendan Smialowski AFP | Getty Images
European stocks fell on Wednesday as investors weighed a U.S. proposal for sweeping new tariffs on 60 countries.
Immediately after the opening bell rang, the pan-European Stocks 600 The index fell 0.23%, with mixed conditions for sector and local securities. british FTSE100 While it opened just below the flatline, France Cac40 Germany decreased by 0.3%. dachshund It fell by 0.8%.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has imposed additional tariffs of up to 12.5% on 60 trading partners for failing to ban products made with forced labor. Countries that could be targeted by this measure include China, the European Union, and Japan.
“It is unacceptable that our most important trading partners do not address imports of products made with forced labor, creating a dynamic that forces American workers to compete globally on an unequal playing field,” said U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
Investors are also continuing to monitor developments in the US-Iran war after tensions escalated overnight and Tehran accused the US of launching new attacks despite a cease-fire.
share in Akzo Nobel The stock was suspended and was set to fall 20% after Nippon Paint and Sherwin-Williams’ bid to buy the owner of Dulux Paints fell through.
Akzo Nobel confirmed the withdrawal in a press release on Wednesday morning.
In other company news, ZARA owner Inditex On Wednesday, it provided investors with an update on its fiscal first quarter earnings.
The Spanish retail group’s sales rose 5.8% year-on-year to 8.7 billion euros ($10.1 billion), meeting analysts’ expectations. Net profit reached 1.38 billion euros, up 5.4% year-on-year and in line with expectations.
Economic indicators to be released today include PMI statistics for Spain, unemployment and business confidence statistics for Russia, and GDP data for Austria.
—CNBC’s Anniek Bao contributed to this report.
