A source close to French President Emmanuel Macron said he was pushing for activation of the “Anti-Coercion Instrument”, which could limit access to public tenders, investments or banking activity or restrict trade in services, in which the U.S. has a surplus with the bloc, including digital services.
Bernd Lange, the German Social Democrat who chairs the European Parliament’s trade committee, and Valerie Hayer, head of the centrist Renew Europe group, echoed Macron’s call, as did Germany’s engineering association.
Meanwhile, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said that while there should be no doubt that the EU would retaliate, it was “a bit premature” to activate the anti-coercion instrument.
EU states condemn Trump tariff threats, consider countermeasures