The main UK stock indexes eased from multi-week highs on Tuesday after US President-elect Donald Trump’s latest tariff proposal for some of the country’s biggest trading partners sparked risk-off moves across global markets.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 .FTSE fell 0.4 per cent after touching a one-month closing high in the previous session. The FTSE 250 midcap index .FTMC dropped 0.9 per cent after hitting a near one-month high on Monday.

Trump said on Monday he would impose a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico until they clamped down on drugs and migrants crossing the border. He separately outlined “an additional 10 per cent tariff, above any additional tariffs” on imports from China.

European stocks came under pressure, with China-exposed automakers slipping the most. The dollar gained ground against the Mexican peso and the Canadian dollar.

“There has been a view among some investors that Trump’s tariff talk was a negotiating tactic, a threat rather than a promise. That might still end up the case, but it’s clear that the president-elect has no intention of backing down for now,” Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.

Shares of heavyweight miners Glencore and Rio Tinto were down 2.8 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively, as copper prices dipped on details of proposed tariffs on top metals consumer China.

Spirits maker Diageo slipped 1.6 per cent, echoing a weak sentiment among European brewers and distillers on tariff risks.

Meanwhile, British retailers’ optimism fell to a two-year low following finance minister Rachel Reeves’ first budget as they brace for higher employment costs and soft consumer demand, the Confederation of British Industry said in its quarterly survey.

Among other stocks, Melrose Industries climbed 7.7 per cent after J.P.Morgan raised its price target on the aerospace parts maker to 850 pence from 650 pence, saying the stock is “significantly undervalued.”

Shares in Halfords jumped about 13 per cent after the British bicycle and car products retailer beat first-half profit expectations and said it would nearly double the number of sites offering its Fusion motoring services.