Can Europe sell America?

What It Covers

Europe considers economic retaliation options against US pressure over Greenland, including the anti-coercion mechanism and selling US Treasury bonds. Financial Times editor Robin Wigglesworth analyzes Europe's financial arsenal and explains why dramatic divestment remains unlikely despite holding 3 trillion dollars in US treasuries.

Key Questions Answered

• •European Treasury Holdings: Europe holds approximately 3 trillion dollars in US Treasury bonds, making it the single largest foreign holder, surpassing China's 700 billion dollars. This financial position gives Europe theoretical leverage but remains largely in private sector hands across thousands of pension funds, insurance companies, and banks throughout the continent.
• •Anti-Coercion Mechanism Limitations: The EU's anti-coercion tool can impose measures beyond tariffs, including banning companies like Amazon from operating in Europe. However, effectiveness depends on willingness to deploy it, and any action creates ricochet effects harming European consumers while risking unpredictable retaliation from the current US administration.
• •Divestment Complexity: Forcing European investors to dump US assets requires draconian laws across the EU to compel thousands of private investors to sell. This approach would destroy asset values and harm European investors first, making it mutually assured destruction rather than effective leverage in current tensions.
• •Gradual Cooling Scenario: The more realistic threat involves European pension plans and insurance companies gradually reducing new purchases of US treasuries rather than dramatic selling. Denmark's teacher pension fund divesting 100 million dollars in US bonds signals this incremental shift away from American assets without triggering financial warfare.