Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) characterised the United States' newly announced tariffs as "worrying".
In a post on social media site X on Thursday morning, Orpo said: "There are no winners in a trade war. Businesses, consumers and economic growth will suffer. The EU is prepared to react and negotiate. Finland has prepared as part of the European Union [trading bloc]".
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump ignited a global trade war as he unveiled plans to slap tariffs on products from 180 countries and territories, including some uninhabited islands. The EU faces tariffs of 20 percent on exports to the US.
The announcement sparked concern in many corners of the world, as well as in Finland.
Orpo also spoke to reporters about the situation on Thursday.
"Trump's announcement is harming economic growth, it's harming businesses and consumers, it is harming employment. That's why we must work very resolutely now to avoid these tariffs and a trade war," Orpo said at a press briefing outside the Government Palace in Helsinki on Thursday.
The PM emphasised that Finland works with the EU on its trade policy. Orpo said he had just been in contact with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to confirm Finland's support for decisive action by Europe.
Aiming to avoid tariffs
According to Orpo, there is still a possibility of avoiding the planned tariffs, but he acknowledged the difficult situation at hand.
"First, we will try to find a negotiated solution, but if that cannot be achieved, we must be able to respond with tariffs. Europe has prepared for this. They would be implemented in a targeted manner so that they affect the United States as much as possible and have as few negative effects on the European economy as possible," Orpo said.
Minister of Economic Affairs Wille Rydman (Finns) told newspaper Helsingin Sanomat that Finland should try to negotiate a bilateral agreement in the trade war to secure icebreaker deals with the United States.
Over the weekend, Finnish President Alexander Stubb visited Trump in Florida, where the pair discussed the possibility of the US buying a number of icebreakers from Finland, among other topics.
Reacting to the tariff news, President Stubb urged government leaders to improve bilateral relations with the US in order to find a solution to the trade war.
Stubb said that the US should make assurances that it is committed and connected to Europe and especially Nato. The Finnish president made the comments on Thursday at a joint press briefing with Austrian President Alexander van der Bellen, who was on the first of a two-day visit to Finland.
Meanwhile, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen (NCP) said she would not like to see trade barriers, especially between Nato member countries.
"The reason why the United States is the world's wealthiest and most influential country is that it has relied on a market economy throughout its history, and I believe that it will continue to do so in the future," Valtonen told reporters on the sidelines of a Nato foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels on Thursday.
'Detrimental to trade'
Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio (Finns) also criticised the United States' tariff plans on X.
"The trade relationship between the US and EU is the world's largest, and accounts for approximately 30% of total global trade," Tavio's post read.
"The US tariff decision is detrimental to transatlantic trade. Tariffs increase costs and slow economic growth, at a time when we desperately need it. Finland supports open trade and will continue to defend it," Tavio's post continued.
Politicians weren't the only ones reacting to the news, as the Helsinki Stock Market share prices dropped by 2.4 percent when it opened on Thursday morning.
Finnish industrial machinery firms were hit particularly hard. For example, Kalmar and Metso share prices were down by nearly four percent, while Konecranes shares declined by around two percent.
Worse than expected
According to Danske Bank's chief analyst, Minna Kuusisto, the market reaction reflects that the tariff news was worse than expected. She said that Asian markets, including Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, were particularly hard-hit.
According to Danske Bank's team of analysts, there are hardly any companies on the Helsinki Stock Exchange that would benefit from the situation.
"The only relative winner seems to be Outokumpu, which has production facilities in the US," Kuusisto said, referring to the Finnish stainless steel maker.
"When tariffs are this high across the board, [only] those with production in the United States are relative beneficiaries," Kuusisto continued.
However, Outokumpu's shares were also down by around two percent on Thursday morning.
Further economic impacts of the tariff plans are expected after 4:30 pm on Thursday, Finnish time, when markets open in the US. Analysts expect the S&P 500 to fall by nearly three percent, and there are forecasts that Nasdaq could decline by more than three percent.