The European Union has declared that it will use a wide range of options to retaliate against the United States if President Donald Trump follows through on his threat to impose so-called reciprocal tariffs on the bloc this week, according to Bloomberg.
“We don’t necessarily want to retaliate,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday. “If necessary, we have a strong plan of retaliation and we will use it.”
The US intends to impose high tariffs on global partners starting as early as Wednesday. Trump has stated that these measures will rectify tariffs, as well as non-tariff barriers which he says are unfair, such as domestic regulations and how countries collect taxes, including the EU’s Value Added Tax. The EU argues that its VAT is a fair and non-discriminatory tax, which applies equally to domestic goods and imports. France and other countries have called on trade officials to consider using the bloc’s anti-coercion tool – an instrument designed to target nations that use trade and economic measures in a coercive manner. Such a move could lead to restrictions on trade and services, as well as certain intellectual property rights, foreign direct investment, and access to public procurement, as previously reported by Bloomberg.