France says EU has the tools to hit back at Trump over tariffs, FT reports

Brussels has the tools ​to hit back at the United States for its latest round of tariffs, France's trade minister Nicolas ‌Forissier told ⁠the ⁠Financial Times on Saturday.

Paris was in talks with EU counterparts and the European Commission over U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to impose a flat global tariff of 10% after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that many ⁠of the ‌existing tariffs he had levied on trading partners were illegal, Forissier said.

"Should ⁠it become necessary, the EU has ​the appropriate instruments at its disposal," ​Forissier told the FT.


The EU response could include options such as the "trade bazooka", an anti-coercion instrument (ACI) that could affect U.S. technology companies, the newspaper said, citing ‌French officials.

The ACI has a broad range of powers from export controls ​to tariffs on ​services, ⁠as well as excluding U.S. companies from EU procurement contracts, it said.

There is also a suspended package of retaliatory tariffs on more than 90 billion euros ($106 billion) of U.S. goods that could be deployed, the report added.