Europe stocks slide again as Trump tariff turmoil continues

Stock markets across Europe have suffered a third consecutive day of widespread losses, dropping to a 14-month low point as investor worries over the new U.S. reciprocal tariffs continue.

In France, the CAC 40 finished down 4.8 percent. The German DAX ended off 4.1 percent. The MIB in Italy closed down 5.2 percent. Spain's IBEX ended the day down 5.12 percent.

Despite the main bourses closing in the red, they recovered some of their earlier losses: for example, Germany's DAX shed 10 percent of its value at one stage on Monday, before climbing up before the close.

On Monday, European Union trade ministers met in Luxembourg for talks on how to respond to the Trump administration's tariffs.

Speaking at the meeting, the EU's trade commissioner and lead negotiator, Maroš Šefčovič, said that there had been a "paradigm shift in the global trading system" as a result of the decision by the U.S. president to impose sweeping import taxes.

But Šefčovič was upbeat about the possibility of finding a negotiated solution to the trade crisis between Brussels and Washington. 

He said he expected "mutually acceptable compromise" to be found shortly.

The meeting came ahead of the expected approval on April 15 by EU member states of countermeasures in response to the first round of US steel and aluminum imports imposed on the bloc in March. There will be a further announcement due on May 15.