Europe’s economy grew more strongly in the first three months of the year, only to see hopes for an ongoing recovery quickly squelched by US President Donald Trump’s trade war.
Gross domestic product in the 20 eurozone countries grew 0.4% in the first quarter, improving on 0.2% growth in the last part of 2024, according to official figures released by European Union statistics agency Eurostat.
But on April 2, just two days after the end of the quarter, Mr Trump announced an onslaught of new tariffs on almost every US trading partner and hit goods imported from the EU with a 20% tariff rate.
That has led to widespread downgrading of Europe’s growth outlook for the year, since its economy is heavily dependent on exports and the US is its largest single export destination.
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