In the past year, Ludovic Subran has watched European business leaders go through cycles not unlike the various stages of grief. "At first, they said that Donald Trump's victory was far from certain, then they told themselves that the future president would be pragmatic, then some thought that deregulation was going to be a good thing for business," said the chief investment officer of Allianz, the German insurer, who spends much of his time meeting CEOs and investors. But now that Trump is in power, they are experiencing both disbelief and dismay.

The American president is threatening the European Union (EU) with tariffs of 25% that will be announced "very soon." It's hard to know exactly what measures will be applied. But according to Subran, the American president should be taken literally. "One way or another, we can't escape the wrecking ball," he warned.

On Monday, March 3, the US president signed an executive order doubling the tariffs he had already imposed on China, from 10% to 20%. Speaking to the press, he also said that there was "no room left for Mexico or for Canada" to avoid the 25% tariffs, before postponing them for a month.

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