European stock markets are trading higher early on Wednesday ahead of the upcoming FOMC minutes in anticipation of the Fed sounding dovish and announcing policy easing measures. However, the US-China trade war continues to dominate the market sentiment with Trump’s recent comments signaling further hostilities between the two world leaders.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump stated that he needed to take on China even if it meant that the US economy could experience a recession in the short-term. Trump alleged that China had been “grifting off” the US for several decades, causing the US to lose up to $500 billion a year.

In addition, he mentioned IP theft and national security as additional reasons for the trade war between US and China. Trump claimed that the trade war he has waged has caused China to lose $2 billion last month and nearly 2 million jobs as companies relocate to other regions in a bid to stave off America’s tariffs.

In addition to the trade war, European stock markets can also be affected by Brexit as UK PM Boris Johnson meets with German Vice Chancellor Angela Merkel in a bid to get the Irish backstop changed.