The Dutch blue chip AEX index opened 1.7% higher at 814.18 points on Tuesday, following a 4.8% drop on Monday prompted by fears over planned US import tariffs.

Financial and semiconductor stocks led the recovery, with BESI up 4.5% and ASML rising 4.2%. Asian markets also showed modest gains after Monday’s declines.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday afternoon that the EU had offered the US a “zero-for-zero” tariff arrangement in response to US president Donald Trump’s proposal for 20% tariffs.

“We have offered zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods, as we have successfully done with many other trading partners, because Europe is always ready for a good deal,” she said.

“But we are also prepared to respond through countermeasures and defend our interests. And in addition, we will also protect ourselves against indirect effects through trade diversion.”

Von der Leyen added that the EU would seek to strengthen trade alliances elsewhere. “Further diversifying our trade relations is very critical for us, because this broadens the market opportunities and it is crucial for our companies. So we will focus like a laser beam on the 83% of global trade that is beyond the US – so, vast opportunities.”

Reparations

Trump said on Monday that Europe owed reparations to the US and accused the continent of treating the country “very badly”.

“We put a big tariff on Europe,” he said. “They are coming to the table. They want to talk, but there’s no talk unless they pay us a lot of money on a yearly basis — number one for present, but also for past.”

Meanwhile, the Dutch investors association VEB has warned that attempting to profit from falling share prices carries significant risk. “We can live with the decline that we have seen so far,” said Errol Keyner of the VEB in an interview with radio station BNR. “But if the trade war escalates, prices can fall much further.”

Keyner said talks with the US would be complicated. “It is difficult to negotiate with someone who acts irrationally,” he said. “You’d be better with a psychologist than an economist to advise you on the approach.”