| As President Donald Trump slings tariff threats far and wide during his first week back in office, governments including the European Union are bracing for his tough talk to descend into an actual trade war with the US. The EU has already prepared lists of goods to target if Trump moves forward with tariffs if attempts to engage with his administration on alternatives such as a common approach to China fail. Read More: Trump Pushes to Make US an AI Superpower, With Fewer Guardrails But some officials in Brussels believe that trade disputes will mostly be transactional and there are deals to be done eventually. Trump has hinted, for example, that he wants to see the EU buy more American oil and gas. The more vicious fights will be on tech regulation and the interests of America’s tech giants, those officials predict. The EU has several probes open against US firms, including Meta, Google and the social network X. It has developed regulations for everything from moderating content on social platforms and using artificial intelligence to stringent competition laws. Breaching the rules can expose companies to hefty penalties. Tech Billionaires Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has already called on Trump to defend US companies against EU fines, comparing them to tariffs. X owner Elon Musk, who like Zuckerberg and other tech billionaires attended Trump’s inauguration on Monday, has regularly lashed out at the EU’s rules and lawmakers. Read More: EU Should Talk to US Before Retaliating on Tariffs, Kukies Says Brussels so far has not shown any signs on changing course on its digital services or antitrust rulebooks. But the economic and political pressure to relent will be immense and it’s not an area where scope for a deal will be straightforward. “Let’s focus on how we strengthen this transatlantic relationship and avoid any misunderstanding,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told Bloomberg TV in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday. (Click here to watch the full interview.) Meanwhile, at Davos this week…Citigroup’s top investment banker says US corporates are on the hunt for overseas deals thanks to a strong dollar, an easier regulatory regime and a widening gap in the multiples at which international companies are being valued. European stock markets have lagged the US, creating attractive acquisition targets for American corporates, he said. (Click here to watch the Bloomberg TV interview.) Related Reading: —Alberto Nardelli in London Click here for more of Bloomberg.com’s most-read stories about trade, supply chains and shipping. | 
