Stocks listed in Europe opened broadly higher on Friday, as investors assessed the latest trade policy announcements out of the White House.<\/p>\n
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up by 0.4% shortly after the opening bell, with most sectors in positive territory.<\/p>\n
The Stoxx Europe 600 Healthcare index was last seen trading 0.2% higher.<\/p>\n
Overnight, President Donald Trump announced that pharmaceutical imports to the U.S. would be hit with 100% tariffs from Oct. 1<\/a>. Companies who built manufacturing facilities in America would be exempt, Trump said, but only once they started breaking ground on the construction of U.S. plants.<\/p>\n Previously, Trump had threatened to impose<\/a> tariffs of up to 200% on pharma imports.<\/p>\n Galderma<\/a>, down 1.6%, Zealand Pharma<\/a>, down 2%, and Novo Nordisk<\/a>, down 1.4%, were among the European sector’s worst performers on Friday morning.<\/p>\n However, in a note circulated in the wake of Trump’s announcements, JP Morgan strategists downplayed the impact the new tariffs would have on the pharmaceutical sector.<\/p>\n The “potential 100% tariff should largely be avoidable with us based manufacturing buildout,” they said. “And while there remain a number of unknowns on tonight’s announcement \u2026 we continue to see a very manageable overall impact from tariffs to our large cap coverage.”<\/p>\n Trump also announced on his Truth Social platform on Thursday night that heavy trucks would be slapped with 25% tariffs<\/a> from next month.<\/p>\n The European Union’s own trade policies are also in focus, after German newspaper Handelsblatt reported<\/a> that the bloc was planning to impose tariffs of up to 50% on Chinese steel in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n