Tariff Risk Hangs Over East Europe’s Trump-Induced Rally

Tariffs on EU will hurt eastern European economies, markets
Leaders such as Hungary’s Orban hope to leverage Trump ties

The Budapest Stock Exchange Ltd. in Budapest.
Photographer: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg

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By Andras Gergely, Srinivasan Sivabalan, and Jorgelina Do Rosario

February 9, 2025 at 8:30 AM EST

Updated on

February 10, 2025 at 2:44 AM EST

Lauded as “tough” and “smart” by President Donald Trump, Hungary’s Viktor Orban is among the eastern European leaders hoping that allegiance to the US will translate into deals and economic gains. Instead, they may find their financial markets cannot escape the wider fallout of a US-Europe trade war.

The region is a testing ground of sorts for the view that Trump’s good graces can buffer a country’s stock and currency markets in the face of turbulence elsewhere. Such hopes lifted Hungarian stocks to record highs immediately after Trump’s election win, while shares in Budapest-listed telecommunications firm 4iG Nyrt. soared after its chief executive accompanied the premier on his visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion.