We must not exclude any option and could open the European instrument box, which is very comprehensive and represents an extremely aggressive response, the official told the press before the start of a meeting of foreign trade ministers from the 27-member bloc in Luxembourg.

According to Saint-Martin, both US goods and services are potential targets of the reaction, following Trump’s announcements on April 2 of tariffs on dozens of countries, including a 20 percent tariff on EU products.

These tariffs follow those already imposed on steel and aluminum. “We’re talking about the available instruments of the anti-coercion mechanism,” he said, referring to the protocol intended to defend the bloc’s interests and act as a deterrent.

The minister stated that France prefers cooperation and negotiation to escalation and confrontation, but believes the EU must be ready to respond. Saint-Martin recalled that the first of the rebuttals will come in a dozen days, related to the tariffs imposed by Trump on steel and aluminum.

After that, the EU will have until the end of the month to react to the so-called reciprocal tariffs, he noted.

He also insisted that it would be best to avoid a trade war from which no one would emerge victorious.

In recent days, in addition to criticizing the White House’s decision, voices from France, including that of President Emmanuel Macron, have advocated for strong responses to Washington, including the suspension of new French investments in the United States until the situation clears up.

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