All the options the EU has on the table to stop Trump

BrusselsEU leaders insist that their intention is in no way to contribute to deepening the crisis between the European Union and the United States, but quite the opposite. However, these kind words have not worked with Donald Trump, who on Monday said he would follow through on his threat to impose tariffs on several European countries if an agreement on Greenland is not reached. "100 percent," he asserted in a brief interview with NBC.

The European bloc is studying measures to deter and put a stop once and for all to the White House's continuous aggression and humiliation. The options now on the table, which EU leaders will discuss at the extraordinary summit next Thursday in Brussels, are primarily two: the application of additional tariffs on US products. for a value of 93 billion euros and the activation of an anti-coercion legal instrument that allows for the approval of extraordinary measures against a third country.

Some member states, such as France, are pushing for the most forceful response and for the button known as the bazooka legal—the nickname given to the anti-coercion instrument in European institutions. "Europe must be strong and ensure that [Trump's] threats do not materialize. And, for that reason, it is necessary to demonstrate that we are prepared to use all the instruments at our disposal," argued French Finance Minister Roland Lescure at the Eurogroup meeting this Monday in Brussels, accompanied by his German counterpart. This mechanism aims to provide the EU with a legal framework to facilitate increases in customs duties, restrictions on imports or exports, the exclusion of certain countries from participating in public tenders, and, among other things, the suspension of international obligations regarding intellectual property, which would particularly affect Big Tech. However, despite being a tool for emergency application, the assessment of whether the EU is truly a victim of coercion by a foreign power can take up to four months, and the activation of this measure requires the approval of a qualified majority of the bloc's member states: 55% of the EU5 countries.

The bazooka It has not been applied until now and was devised with a view to the growing threat that China also poses to the EU; it was not expected that its activation against the United States would be considered. Specifically, this comes in the wake of the trade restrictions that Beijing imposed on Lithuania as punishment for its 2021 announcement of improvements in its trade relations with Taiwan.

This mechanism has also often been compared with a nuclear weapon in the field of international trade. The European Commission itself maintains that it was not created with the intention of implementing it, but rather to have it in reserve to deter other powers from attacking the European Union with trade restrictions, such as tariffs. For this reason, some member states find it to be too forceful a response and, at least at the moment, it does not have the consensus that the increase in tariffs against US imports seems to enjoy. In any case, the European Commissioner for Economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, has not ruled it out and has stated that "no option is off the table."

Dusting off the tariff list

The option that currently seems to have the most support in Brussels is the reinstatement of the €93 billion in tariffs that the EU threatened to impose on the United States at the start of the trade war. When signing the trade agreement with Washington, the bloc froze their activation until February 6th. Therefore, the European Union should not take any action to prevent these additional tariffs on US imports from being automatically applied on February 7th. With this list, the European Union is targeting symbolic items from the United States and states where Trump has significant electoral support, such as Levi's jeans, Bourbon whiskey, and Harley-Davidson motorcycles. It also includes some agricultural products, personal hygiene items, clothing, and, among others, Boeing aircraft and automotive products. The tariffs would range from 10% to 25%, depending on the specific item.