Investing.com – European stock markets hovered either side of the flatline on Tuesday as investors assessed the outlook for US President Donald Trump’s tariff plans following his inauguration.

The pan-European average was unchanged at 04:25 ET (09:25 GMT), while the UK’s rose 0.1%.

In France, the prevalence is also constant. But it fell 0.2%, weighed by carmakers in Europe’s largest economy, which is seen as exposed to Trump’s trade stance.

As he unveiled a series of executive orders in the opening hours of his second term in the White House, Trump stopped short of imposing universal taxes on America’s allies and adversaries alike, arguing that he was not ready for such a step.

Instead, he ordered federal agencies to look into persistent US trade deficits and perceived unfairness in other countries’ trade practices.

In a memo, the Commerce and Treasury departments and the US Trade Representative were ordered by Trump to also investigate the “economic and national security implications and risks” resulting from trade deficits and recommend “appropriate” measures. answer, “such as a global supplemental tariff or other policies” to resolve the matter.

However, traders’ initial relief that the orders did not include one-day tariffs was dashed when Trump told reporters he was considering imposing a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico from February 1. The move could affect European automakers, which have factories in Mexico that produce cars for the US.

A spokesman for German carmaking giant Volkswagen (ETR:) said the company is concerned about the potential damage Trump’s sweeping import tariffs could do to consumers and the broader automotive industry, Reuters reported.

Volkswagen shares, as well as domestic peers BMW (ETR: ) and Mercedes (ETR: ), all fell in morning trade, and Jeep owner Stellantis (BIT: ) (NYSE 🙂 The stock listed in Milan is melting. The broad automotive sector also fell by 0.7%.

Concerns about tariffs also hit Spanish lender BBVA (BME:). Shares of the company, whose biggest market is Mexico, fell in Madrid, reflecting the weakness of the Mexican peso against the US dollar.

In individual stocks, Abrdn shares rose more than 6% after the investment firm reported better-than-expected net flows in the fourth quarter, signaling a potential turnaround in the overall -its performance.

Meanwhile, Ørsted shares fell 16% on Tuesday after the wind farm developer announced a DKK 12.1 billion impairment charge due to challenges with its US offshore wind projects.

Oil prices fell in European trade on Tuesday after President Trump declared a national emergency on his first day in office with the aim of increasing US energy production.

Trump said in a White House briefing that he would declare a national energy emergency and use “all necessary resources” to build America’s energy infrastructure.

Expiring in March fell 0.5% to $79.79 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 1.3% to $76.39 a barrel at 03:37 ET.