EU says ‘priority is to engage not escalate’ after Trump tariff threat

BRUSSELS: The EU said on Monday it wanted to engage with the United States after President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on European countries in the standoff over Greenland, but was ready to act if needed.

Trump shook Europe on Saturday when he vowed to slap EU members Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden – and non-members Britain and Norway – with extra levies unless Greenland is ceded to the United States.

Leaders from the 27-nation bloc will hold an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday evening to discuss their response to one of the gravest crises in years to hit transatlantic ties.

“Our priority is to engage, not escalate,” EU trade spokesman Olof Gill said. “Sometimes the most responsible form of leadership is restraint.”

Gill said engagement with the United States continued at all levels.

“We are trying to be calm, to be firm, to be serious, to be responsible, because that’s what, in our view, leadership looks like,” Gill told reporters.

READ MORE: World markets face fresh jolt as Trump vows tariffs on Europe over Greenland

But he added: “Should the threatened tariffs be imposed, the European Union has tools at its disposal and is prepared to respond.”

The EU is considering different responses if Trump does not back down, including putting the current tariff deal agreed last year with the United States on hold.

Second, European tariffs on imports worth 93 billion euros ($108 billion) from the United States, currently suspended until early February, could come into force.

The third response if the situation does not change would include an array of tools, including the “anti-coercion instrument” known as the “bazooka”.

Aides to French President Emmanuel Macron said he would ask the EU to activate the never-before-used tool against Washington if Trump makes good on his threat.

“People ask me, is the anti-coercion instrument back on the table? It was never off the table,” Gill said.