Johnny Ryan is the director of Enforce, a unit of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties that monitors human rights on large digital platforms. He previously held senior roles in the online advertising, media, and technology industries.

Last week, Donald Trump issued a stark warning: European states that enforce EU law against American tech giants risk trade tariffs. This is not a negotiation tactic. It is an assertion of power‚ a demand that Europe surrender its legal order to foreign influence.

This is not a negotiation. It is a test.

Europe possesses a “ trade bazooka ” designed for this precise scenario. The Anti-Coercion Instrument is designed to respond to the kind of threats and actions that Trump now alludes to. To delay its use is to invite further encroachments.

But the

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