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Brussels.- The European Commission assured this Monday that "it is prepared to respond" to the tariffs that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, has threatened to impose on eight European countries in the midst of a conflict over the control of Greenland, although it first bet on finding a diplomatic solution.
«The priority is to get involved – not to escalate – and avoid the imposition of tariffs. Why? because in the end, this would harm consumers and companies on both sides of the Atlantic. (...) If tariffs were imposed, the EU has tools at its disposal and is prepared to respond, because we will do everything necessary to protect the European economic interest,» said the spokesperson for Trade of the Community Executive, Olof Gill. In an emergency meeting held on Sunday, the ambassadors of the Twenty-Seven raised the possibility of adopting retaliatory measures against the United States worth 93 billion euros, an option that was already on the table last year, but which the Twenty-Seven shelved in order to allow the trade agreement that Brussels and Washington reached in the summer.We recommend reading:US senators reject tariffs and ask Trump to stop threatening Greenland
The possible measure is frozen until next February 6th, but EU countries are now studying the possibility of applying it if Trump definitively imposes tariffs. “We have tools at our disposal and currently nothing is off the table,” underlined the European Commissioner for Economy, Valdis Dombrovskis. The Latvian commissioner, upon his arrival at the meeting of Economy and Finance ministers of the Eurozone (Eurogroup) this Monday, assured journalists that "tariff threats are not acceptable as a means of managing these issues". “There is much to lose economically for both Europe and the United States, their companies and their workers,” he added before calling for a “constructive solution” that respects international law and takes into account the economic and commercial relations between both parties.
France, Germany, and Spain call for activating the "commercial bazooka"
Several countries - including France, Germany, Spain and Poland, according to EFE diplomatic sources - demanded on Sunday the need to activate for the first time in history the anti-coercion instrument, popularly known as its "commercial bazooka".
That instrument came into force in 2023 to address "a situation in which a third country attempts to pressure the EU or a Member State to make a specific decision, by applying or attempting to apply measures affecting trade or investment." This instrument would allow the European Commission to impose restrictions on imports and exports to the United States, on its investments in the EU, restrict the intellectual property rights of US companies or prohibit them from participating in public tenders.You can also read: Trump suggests he might raise tariffs on countries that don't accept his plans in Greenland
But before adopting any of these two reprisals, "seeking a diplomatic solution and dialogue will currently be the EU's approach," other diplomatic sources assured EFE. That cautious position of Brussels contrasts with the forcefulness shown this Monday by the Finance Ministers of Germany and France, Lars Klingbeil and Roland Lescure, in rejecting Trump's commercial «blackmail».“We will not give in,” assured the French headline, who stated that “we exclude nothing” and that “the set of instruments are available.”
What would activating the anti-coercion instrument entail?
If they wanted to activate the European anti-coercion instrument or 'commercial bazooka', the Member States could submit a recommendation for the European Commission to initiate an investigation. This report, which must verify the existence of coercion, would have to be adopted by the Council along with a series of measures proposed by the European Commission. The whole process could take between three and six months, but it would be «a very strong signal» towards the United States, a researcher at the ODI Global study center in Brussels, David Kleinmann, told EFE. «This is the second time during the second term (of Trump) that there are very, very strong reasons to apply this instrument (anti-coercion). It is exactly what it is made for«, Kleinmann pointed out. For Kleinmann, the tariff tensions between the EU and the US last year did not exceed Brussels' "pain threshold," which had "very little interest in entering a trade war." However, in the last 48 hours, "that threshold has been exceeded "by far", added the expert, who recalled that the EU could also apply the package of countermeasures that the Commission prepared last year, which includes tariffs worth 93 billion. The researcher added, however, that these countermeasures would have to be adjusted to respect the principle of proportionality under international law - that is, to adapt the scope of the response to that of the threat.No Face-to-Face Meeting Planned in Davos
The first opportunity that European leaders will have to convince Trump to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict over Greenland will be at the World Economic Forum that begins this Monday in Davos.And this Thursday, the heads of state and government of the EU will meet in Brussels in an extraordinary way to discuss a joint response to the attempts of the United States to take over the control of Greenland, indicated this Monday a spokeswoman for the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa.
«Sometimes, the most responsible form of leadership is restraint and responsible leadership is what the president (of the European Commission, Ursula) Von der Leyen and the EU as a whole have», said the Commission spokesperson.
