BRUSSELS, April 7 (Xinhua) -- European stocks plunged on Monday, falling by an average of around 5 percent, as mounting concerns over U.S. tariffs continued to rattle global markets.

Major European benchmark indexes opened sharply lower, reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump's unwavering stance on new trade duties. Although markets recovered slightly from early losses, most key indexes still closed more than 4 percent lower.

The pan-European STOXX Europe 600 index, a broad gauge of the region's equity market, dropped 4.54 percent. The UK's FTSE 100 fell 4.26 percent, Germany's DAX slid 4.13 percent, and France's CAC 40 tumbled 4.78 percent.

Fears over the Trump administration's threat to impose additional tariffs on U.S. imports have been weighing on European markets since March. A sharp sell-off has been triggered since last Wednesday when Trump rolled out a new set of levies, imposing a 10-percent baseline tariff on imports from all trading partners and higher rates on certain ones.

Since then, the STOXX Europe 600 has declined 11.75 percent, the FTSE 100 is down 10.53 percent, the DAX has lost over 11.6 percent, and the CAC 40 has fallen by approximately 12 percent.

Market analysts warn that further escalation - particularly retaliatory moves from America's trading partners - could drag down the global economy.

"Selling pressure increased massively again at the start of the week," said financial markets expert Andreas Lipkow, speaking to the German news agency dpa. "Nerves are currently on edge."

"These tariffs come at a significant cost to our consumers and businesses, while also severely impacting the global economy," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a press briefing in Brussels on Monday.

The EU proposed to impose retaliatory tariffs on certain U.S. imports, according to media reports.

"Bending the knee to the tyrant will most likely encourage the tyrant to ask for more," wrote Brussels-based think tank Bruegel in a report. "If the goal is to end an economically damaging conflict swiftly, the EU must be prepared to respond in kind to U.S. tariff aggression," it added. Enditem

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