European Finance Ministers are discussing using the bloc's anti-coercion trade instrument and other economic countermeasures following President Donald Trump's announcement of new tariffs over the Greenland dispute.
"We do not want to escalate this, but if others keep on escalating then there will need to be a European answer," Danish Economic Affairs Minister Stephanie Lose told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday ahead of a meeting with her counterparts. "We don't rule out anything at the moment."
While tariffs damage both the U.S. and EU economies and should be avoided, Finance ministers will talk about the possible use of the EU's trade tool and other counter measures to be put in place if needed, she said.
Trump announced a 10% tariff on goods from eight European countries beginning Feb. 1. He threatened in a social media post to raise the levy to 25% in June unless and until a deal is reached for purchase of Greenland.
"It's sad and totally absurd that we have an American President who is blackmailing the rest of us trying to get a piece or buy it through threats," Swedish Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson told reporters in Brussels. She also said use of the anti-coercion tool was being considered.
"We have the tool for a reason. It's always loaded, but it should only be used when required. I hope we won't need to use it now," she said.
While the EU's trade tool has never been used, it was designed primarily as a deterrent, and if needed, to respond to deliberate coercive actions from third countries that use trade measures as a means to pressure the policy choices of the EU or its members.
Those measures could include tariffs, new taxes on tech companies or targeted curbs on investments in the EU. They could also involve limiting access to certain parts of the EU market or restricting firms from bidding for public contracts in Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron has recently requested the activation of the trade tool, also known as ACI, in response to Trump's new tariff threats.
Lithuania's Kristupas Vaitiekūnas took a more conciliatory approach.
"Whatever means that are a little bit smaller in scale of the coercion mechanism should be used first," he said in Brussels. "I think the response has to be unified and first of all the other measures should be used before the coercion mechanism."
