The European stock market opened with sharp cuts on Monday, January 19, as investors pressed the sell button amid threats of fresh tariff-related tensions between the US and several European nations, following the opposition to Donald Trump’s Greenland ambitions.

The pan-European STOXX 600 tumbled almost 1.3%. France’s CAC 40 index, Germany’s DAX and London’s blue-chip FTSE 100 dropped 1.8%, 1.4% and 0.4%, respectively, as per a Reuters report.

Trump’s Greenland tariff threat

US President Donald Trump threatened to impose fresh tariffs on several European nations over their opposition to allow United States to buy Greenland.

Trump said he would impose an additional 10% tariff starting February 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Britain. This will rise to 25% on June 1 if no deal is reached, he said, casting a doubt on deals reached earlier and raising trade tensions.