At an urgent meeting, the European Union (EU) has favoured holding talks for now instead of going ahead with the ’trade bazooka’ over US President Donald Trump’s announcement of tariffs as part of a campaign to occupy Denmark’s Greenland island.
For now, the European Union (EU) has decided to pursue talks instead of launching the ’trade bazooka’ over US President Donald Trump’s announcement of tariffs as part of a campaign to occupy Denmark’s Greenland island, sources told Euronews.
At an urgent meeting in Brussels on Sunday, the ambassadors from EU’s 27 member-states decided to not launch any immediate retaliation.
Sources said that the meeting focussed on a discussion instead of a formal vote on any proposal. They said that various options, such as the ’trade bazooka’ and a €93-billion retaliation package that was initially prepared last year were discussed.
The ’trade bazooka refers to the anti-coercion instrument (ACI) that the EU adopted in 2023. The ACI allows the EU to punish unfriendly countries for economic blackmail by limiting trade licences and shutting off their access to the bloc’s single market.
Last week, Trump announced a 10 per cent tariff on Denmark and seven other European countries for opposing his campaign to occupy Greenland. He said he would raise the tariff of 25 per cent if Denmark would not sell the island by June 1.
The other seven countries slapped with tariffs are the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Finland.
EU to decide on retaliation after Trump’s deadline
Euronews reported that a decision on reinstating the retaliation package will be taken after the passage of Trump’s deadline.
Originally, the €93-billion package that the EU could reinstate was prepared last year when Trump was waging a trade war on the bloc. The package included tariffs of up to 30 per cent on American goods ranging from cars to poultry. While the package was shelved after the US-EU trade deal was agreed upon, it could now be revived in the wake of Trump’s campaign to occupy Greenland.
Moreover, the EU-US trade deal itself in jeopardy after Trump and his allies have ramped up threats to invade and occupy Greenland lately. European Parliament’s leaders have said that the vote on the deal would be withheld for now.
Meanwhile, European Council President Antonio Costa has called an extraordinary summit of EU leaders in the “coming days”. A source told Euronews that the summit will take place on Thursday.
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