What is called the “bazooka” is actually the EU’s anti-coercion instrument. It is specifically an EU regulation that came into force just over two years ago.
The “Bazooka” gives the EU the mandate to - on top of traditional retaliatory tariffs - impose tariffs and other trade restrictions to prevent or quickly respond to economic threats and protect the interests and sovereignty of the EU and its member states.
This may involve tariffs or other restrictions on exports and imports. But the “bazooka” also opens the door to third-country companies being blocked from public procurement, trade in services, direct investment, banking and insurance in the EU, or access to the EU capital market. It also makes it possible to limit the protection of intellectual property rights.
The tool was created by the EU after years of various trade conflicts, including over US tariffs and Russian gas. However, the triggering factor was a conflict between China and Lithuania, after Lithuania opened a diplomatic representation in Taiwan.
Why is it nicknamed the “bazooka”?
When the proposal was presented in 2021, it was called the “bazooka”, especially in the media - partly because it was seen as a powerful deterrent and partly as an allusion to “the big bazooka”, an expression that was used ten years earlier when people talked about an EU weapon to save the euro.
