Reference News Website reported on April 3 that according to a report on the website of Spanish "Economist" on April 2, since the beginning of his second term in January, the "Trump Storm" has caused chaos. His trade policy, which threatens tariffs as a means, has completely overturned the relations between the United States and its traditional allies. This protectionist attempt is causing tensions to escalate continuously. The so-called "Liberation Day" statement on February 2 was a new round of tariff hikes on imported products from the U.S. The EU side is ready to respond and has a key tool: anti-coercion mechanism. Through this mechanism, the EU may affect $110 billion worth of digital services exported by the U.S. to the EU.

The report stated that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen clearly indicated when speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg this week: "All options are on the table, and if necessary, we have formulated a strong countermeasure plan." Although Brussels prefers dialogue, it is not afraid to use the same threatening language as Trump.

The main response solution referred to by Von der Leyen is the anti-coercion mechanism. This mechanism was established in 2021 as a response and safeguard measure to the trade tug-of-war during Trump's first term, aiming to enable the EU to react to economic coercion situations to protect its own interests. Imposing tariffs or trade restrictions is part of the measures allowed by this mechanism.

In particular, this mechanism authorizes the EU to take countermeasures to force other countries to terminate their economic coercion. Therefore, the EU can restrict the import and export of goods and services, suspend obligations related to intellectual property, limit access to the internal market (such as participating in public procurement), restrict investments and financing, or block products from entering the EU market based on chemical and health product regulations.

It is reported that Trump's so-called "reciprocal tariff" - imposing up to 20% tariffs on all imported goods to the U.S. - may trigger a trade earthquake. Through the anti-coercion mechanism, the EU has the ability to strike one of the pain points of the U.S. economy: its technology companies.

According to legal procedures, the European Commission is responsible for formulating the proposal for this anti-coercion mechanism. Nevertheless, member states still need to approve this proposal. They must receive support from a qualified majority, i.e., support from 55% of member states representing 65% of the European population.

It should be emphasized that these measures can only be implemented as a last resort and must meet conditions such as proportionality (effective counteraction against coercion), specificity (targeted at specific fields), and timeliness (only applicable during the duration of the violation).

In fact, the purpose of this mechanism is to provide certain guarantees for the EU in situations outside the jurisdiction of the WTO. In any case, it cannot be used to resolve issues already addressed by the WTO. (Compiled by Han Chao)

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7488973145912459788/

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