Germany has joined France in urging the European Commission to prepare its most powerful trade weapon — the Anti-Coercion Instrument — if Trump refuses to back down on his threats, according to five diplomats with knowledge of the situation.
The tool would allow the bloc to impose tariffs, restrictions on investment and public procurement, and limits on intellectual property protections.
On Wednesday morning, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the U.S. president’s “proposed additional tariffs are simply wrong,” warning that an escalation would only “embolden the adversaries we are both so committed to keeping out of our strategic landscape.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday called for calm over the U.S.’s fraught trade relationship with the EU and U.K., warning that the “worst thing countries can do is escalate against the United States.”
“What I’m urging everyone here to do is sit back, take a deep breath, and let things play out,” he said.