By Sanchayaita Roy

May 23 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index edged lower

on Friday, tracking global peers, amid renewed trade tensions

sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump's recommendation of 50%

tariffs on European Union imports.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index

was down 0.13% at 25,821.36 points and set for its

first weekly decline in seven weeks.

Global equities tumbled after Trump recommended tariffs on

goods from the EU starting on June 1.

"It seems his (Trump) focus is turning towards the eurozone

and less towards Canada now ... Canadian indices are in positive

territory on the year ... so we're doing quite well,

relatively," said Shiraz Ahmed, senior portfolio manager at

Raymond James Ltd.

"The challenge is, it's a very dynamic environment that

continues to change on a daily basis," he said.

On Thursday, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of

Representatives passed a sweeping tax and spending bill, raising

concerns about worsening fiscal outlook in the world's biggest

economy; the bill now heads to the Senate for approval.

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said on Thursday that

he expected second-quarter growth to be "quite a bit weaker"

than the first quarter, and that it could be worse in subsequent

quarters if the uncertainty around U.S. tariffs continued.

The central bank last month forecast annualized

first-quarter GDP would be 1.8% but did not give any other

projections, citing uncertainty over U.S. tariff policy.

Statistics Canada will release the first-quarter GDP data on

May 30, a week before the central bank's next interest rate

decision.

On TSX, information and technology and healthcare

stocks fell 1.1% and 1.2% respectively on Friday.

Metal miners' shares gained 0.8% as gold prices

rose 1%.