In response to US President Donald Trump's threats to impose customs duties against several European Union countries opposing Washington's plans to take control of Greenland, the EU is considering imposing tariffs on imports from the US amounting to 93 billion euros or restricting American companies' access to the EU market, the Financial Times reports, citing unofficial remarks from EU representatives, LETA writes.
According to officials, these import duties on goods from the US were developed last year when Trump threatened to impose high tariffs on imports from the EU; however, they were not implemented at that time as a trade agreement was reached.
The possibility of applying a so-called anti-coercion tool is also being discussed, which could restrict American companies' access to the EU internal market.
"If this continues, we have precise tools to retaliate against Trump, who is acting in blatantly mafia-like ways," said one EU diplomat, adding that the EU would prefer to resolve disagreements through negotiations.
The anti-coercion tool involves investment restrictions and may affect the export of services provided in the EU by American tech giants.
In conversations with journalists, sources indicated that some EU countries are determined to apply the anti-coercion tool, but there are also member states calling for dialogue with Trump before resorting to direct threats of retaliatory measures.
As reported, Trump announced that due to disagreements over Greenland, a 10% tariff would be imposed on imports from eight EU countries starting February 1.
The new tariffs will affect all imports from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. If an agreement on the sale of Greenland to the US is not reached, the tariff will increase to 25% in June.
In light of Trump's threats, the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, announced on Sunday the convening of an extraordinary EU summit, which is to take place in the coming days.
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