Stocks Soar as EU Caves, Gives PDT Concessions on Trade

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Stocks Soar as EU Caves, Gives PDT Concessions on Trade

On Wednesday, President Trump won another major victory, as the European Union delegation meeting with him agreed to significant concessions to avoid a trade war. 

Those concessions included lowering industrial tariffs on both sides, ratcheting up LNG exports and soy beans to Europe, and aligning regulatory standards so European markets would be more receptive to medical devices from America, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

The European delegation included European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and his top trade official Cecilia Malmström. Car tariffs were also to be discussed. As 

The Journal noted, “Last week, Mr. Trump threatened ‘tremendous retribution’ if his meeting with the EU officials doesn’t lead to what he considers to be a fair auto-trade deal.” 

On Wednesday, Trump stated, “Over the years, the United States has lost hundreds of billions of dollars to the European Union and we just want it to be a level playing field for our farmers, our manufacturers, for everybody.” 

Juncker acknowledged, “We are close partners, allies, not enemies, we have to work together.” Trump has claimed that the EU imposes 10% tariffs on auto imports, whereas the U.S. imposes 2.5%. 

The U.S. does impose a 25% tariff on light trucks, as opposed to the 10% rate in Europe. The emphasis on soybeans comes as China has imposed tariffs on $34 billion worth of U.S. goods, including soybeans and pork. 

In response to the announcement of European concessions, the stock market leaped upward. CNBC reported: 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 172.16 points to close at 25,414.10 after falling more than 100 points earlier in the session. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.2 percent to an all-time high of 7,932.24 as Google-parent Alphabet, Facebook and Amazon all jumped. The S&P 500 gained 0.9 percent to 2,846.07, closing less than 1 percent from its record high, as tech rose 1.5 percent.