DAVOS — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has called for calm over the U.S.’s fraught trade relationship with the EU and U.K., warning that the “worst thing countries can do is escalate against the United States.”

European governments are holding out hope they can lower the temperature and get Trump to abandon his vow to slap punitive tariffs on six EU countries plus the U.K. and Norway for opposing the sale of Greenland to the U.S.

“This is the same kind of hysteria we heard on April 2 — there was a panic,” Bessent told reporters during a press briefing at USA House in Davos on Tuesday morning, in reference to the announcement last year of sweeping “reciprocal tariffs” on many countries.

“What I’m urging everyone here to do is sit back, take a deep breath, and let things play out. As I said on April 2, the worst thing countries can do is escalate against the United States.”

But he specified that “what President Trump is threatening on Greenland is very different than the other trade deals.”

“So I would urge all countries to stick with their trade deals we have agreed on them,” Bessent added.

Potential weapons at the EU’s disposal include a readymade €93 billion package of retaliatory tariffs, as well as the bloc’s Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) or “trade bazooka,” designed to penalize countries that use their markets as a tool for geopolitical blackmail.

However, EU diplomats and officials have told POLITICO they want to avoid retaliation and are betting that a diplomatic solution to the crisis can still be found.

Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has ruled out retaliation against Donald Trump’s threats, telling reporters on Monday “a tariff war is in nobody’s interest, and we have not got to that stage.”

Asked if the EU and U.K. had any retaliatory instruments in their bag that the U.S. should be worried about, Bessent replied simply: “No.”