San Francisco Frontiers - Autos lead market losses after Trump tariffs

Wall Street's main indexes opened in the red, with General Motors sinking more than nine percent in early trading while Ford limited losses to under one percent

In Tokyo, Toyota -- the world's top-selling carmaker -- fell two percent, Honda shed 2.5 percent, Nissan was off 1.7 percent and Mazda dived six percent.

Seoul-listed Hyundai gave up more than four percent.

Among European auto firms, Volkswagen shed 2.4 percent, Porsche was down around 3.5 percent, Mercedes lost four percent and BMW fell 2.7 percent, pushing the wider Frankfurt stock markets down more than one percent.

Peugeot and Jeep maker Stellantis shed more than five percent.

In Mumbai, India's Tata Motors, which exports Jaguar Land Rovers to the United States, lost more than five percent.

"Recent glee over the notion that Trump wouldn't impose sector specific tariffs... (in early April) have been entirely undermined by the fact that the president has instead opted to start announcing such measures ahead of that date," noted Joshua Mahony, analyst at Scope Markets.

There had been indications also that levies lined up for the president's "Liberation Day" on April 2 would be less severe than feared.

However, the White House's habit of alternating between tough talk and leniency has fanned uncertainty and the latest announcement did little to soothe nerves.

"What we're going to be doing is a 25 percent tariff on all cars that are not made in the United States," Trump said as he signed an order in the Oval Office.

The move takes effect at 12:01 am Eastern time (0401 GMT) on April 3 and affects foreign-made cars and light trucks. Key automobile parts will also be hit within the month.

"The move has intensified concerns about the impact on global growth and corporate profitability, particularly for carmakers in Mexico, Japan, South Korea, and Germany -— key suppliers to the US market," said Daniela Sabin Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.

About half of the cars sold in the United States are made within the country. Of the imported vehicles, about half come from Mexico and Canada, with Japan, South Korea and Germany also major suppliers.

Japan's government called the tariffs "extremely regrettable", while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called it a "direct attack" on his country's workers.

And French Finance Minister Eric Lombard warned on Thursday: "The only solution for the European Union will be to raise tariffs on American products in response."

UK finance minister Rachel Reeves said Britain does not want to "escalate" trade wars, with London locked in talks with Washington over potentially securing a post-Brexit trade deal.

"We are looking to secure a better trading relationship with the United States," she told Sky News.

- Key figures around 1335 GMT -

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.4 percent at 42,277.25 points

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.6 percent at 5,680.79

New York - Nasdaq: DOWN 0.7 percent at 17,769.93

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8 percent at 8,620.29

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.7 percent at 7,976.95

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 1.2 percent at 22,554.87

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 percent at 37,799.97 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.4 percent at 23,578.80 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,373.75 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0789 from $1.0757 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2937 from $1.2891

Dollar/yen: UP at 150.63 yen from 150.54 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 83.42 pence from 83.41 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.1 percent at $69.59 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.1 percent at $72.97 per barrel

I.Wright--SFF