Germany and France, the EU’s economic heavyweights, are presenting a united front against Washington’s trade aggression. Their finance ministers declared in January 2026 that Europe “will not allow ourselves to be blackmailed.”
The joint stance centers on France’s proposal to activate the EU’s anti-coercion instrument against US tariff threats. Germany’s backing transforms what could have been a solo French grievance into a coordinated bloc-wide strategy.
What the EU is actually fighting
In July 2025, the EU and US struck a trade deal that imposed a 15% tariff on most EU exports heading to America and introduced quota systems on strategic products like steel and aluminum.
The Trump administration has since layered additional tariff threats on top of the existing framework, tying them to geopolitical demands including those related to Greenland.
