French President Macron is reportedly urging the EU to deploy so-called “anti-coercion tools” in retaliation for new sanctions. US imposes tariffs on NATO countries.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Saturday that Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland would impose 10% tariffs starting on February 1 and rising to 25% on June 1 until “an agreement to fully purchase Greenland is reached.”
The news comes after the countries sent troops to Greenland last week at Denmark’s request, ostensibly for training purposes.
Macron will ask the EU to activate its anti-coercion tool, the EU’s most powerful trade weapon that has not been used since it was adopted in 2023, according to financial times.
“He will be in contact with his European counterparts throughout the day and will request on behalf of France that anti-coercion tools are activated,” a French official told Le Parisien. financial times.
EU officials are due to meet on Sunday to discuss how to respond to Trump’s latest tariffs, despite a trade deal struck in July.
The deal imposes 15% U.S. tariffs on most products and requires the EU to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the U.S., but European lawmakers have yet to ratify the deal and now say NATO tariffs could delay or kill it.
Meanwhile, the EU’s anti-coercion instrument has been described as “Trade Bazooka“The scope and severity of it.
It is intended as a deterrent to protect the EU from “economic coercion” by non-member states seeking to influence certain policy choices. In addition to restricting trade in goods and services, anti-coercion tools can target foreign direct investment and financial markets.
In response to Trump’s new tariffs, such measures could include taxing U.S. technology companies, restricting investment in the EU or restricting access to the single market.
Last year, after Trump threatened the EU with “reciprocal tariffs”, he proposed deploying anti-coercion tools, but they were not used.
Sources told the Wall Street Journal that another option would be to impose retaliatory tariffs that the EU prepared last year but put on hold after the U.S. deal was reached. financial times.
The plan would bring U.S. exports to about $100 billion. The six-month moratorium will expire on February 7 unless extended by the European Commission.
A new round of US-EU trade war Hopes for calm on tariffs dashed The economy and financial markets were rocked last year by the shocking events of Trump’s “Emancipation Day” and the high-stakes talks that followed.
But Trump has refused to make concessions on taking over Greenland, even leaving open the military option, while the administration has also left open the possibility of buying the island.
Although extraction of oil and rare earth minerals from Greenland is estimated to Costing $1 trillion and taking decades generate any returns.
European officials say the troops are being sent there to show they are serious about Arctic security amid Trump’s claims that China and Russia are threatening Greenland, rather than to repel a possible U.S. invasion.
Macron on Saturday defended France’s deployment of troops to Greenland, saying France was committed to the country’s independence and Arctic security.
“No intimidation or threats will affect us when we encounter this situation – whether in Ukraine, Greenland or anywhere else in the world,” he Posted on X. “Tariff threats are unacceptable and have no place in this situation. If these threats are confirmed, Europeans will respond in a united and coordinated way. We will ensure that European sovereignty is upheld.”