Greenland crisis Trump's tariff policy

Sources: No majority to activate trade bazooka

The EU is expected to wait and see with tougher measures after Donald Trump's latest tariff threat and wants to negotiate first, reports Politico, citing sources.

This weekend, the EU discussed tariffs on American goods worth nearly SEK 1,000 billion, as well as the possibility of activating the EU's so-called trade bazooka, the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI), which could mean that access to the EU's internal market is blocked.

But so far, there is no majority among the member states to activate the ACI, despite pressure from France, the sources say.

Instead, the strategy is to wait and see what Trump actually does. As a result, no sharp decisions are expected at this week's extraordinary EU summit on January 22. Any major decisions are expected at the earliest in early February, the newspaper writes.

Analysis: Shaky stock market could cause Trump to back down – again

If Wall Street follows the European stock markets and crashes tomorrow, it could make Donald Trump rethink his new tariff threats. This is what DN's Felicia Åkerman writes in an analysis. The president has acted similarly before, backing down from harsh threats to instead "lay flat before the storm".

Today, the US stock markets are closed due to a holiday, but in Sweden and on the continent the indices are all red in today's trading.

DI's Viktor Munkhammar is on the same track and writes that last year's trade war taught us that tariffs rarely became as high as Trump threatened. In addition, it turned out that companies were skilled at navigating the crisis. However, it caused households to become depressed, which could threaten the Swedish recovery.

Martin Blomgren at EFN notes that today's declines, and increases in Saab and gold, among others, are expected but "fairly sober" reactions. He writes that few believe that the tariffs will become a reality in the form in which they have now been presented.

"Trump has backed down before," summarizes Blomgren.

Nordea strategist Karl Larsson writes in a comment that the situation remains uncertain, but that movements of the size seen on the stock markets today are not that unusual.

"Although geopolitical events can cause concern, it is important to remember that regular setbacks are a feature of good times too."