After the latest bout of trade turmoil with the United States, European leaders are looking for ways to project strength to the Trump administration, which considers them weak.
Although President Trump walked back a threat to impose extra tariffs on several European nations to force the sale of Greenland, the turmoil was a clarifying moment for European officials.
They are looking at this enormous flow of goods, services and investments across the Atlantic as a potential source of leverage over the United States. On Thursday, leaders from the European Union say they will meet in Brussels to “coordinate on the way forward.”
“European leaders cannot act as though the last few weeks did not happen,” said Ian Bond, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, a think tank. “This was the most serious crisis in trans-Atlantic relations in a long time, but with Trump in the White House, it will not be the last.”
Beyond tit-for-tat tariffs and other reactive measures, how can Europeans project strength to an administration that considers them weak? What would it take to deter an unpredictable partner who dismisses the global economic order and expects others to bend to his will?
There are numerous ways the world can (and should) hit back at the US economically but there should be a strategic targeting of their tech sector in particular. Those are the companies headed by the billionaires that have propelled Trump upward and keep whispering in his ear, encouraging his fascist ideals. They are a direct threat to Europe’s power and sovereignty.
This should be of interest then:
https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/11/eu_open_source_consultation
I think that’s the key, yes.