The European Union could target major United States tech companies with retaliatory measures if US President Donald Trump goes through with his threat to impose tariffs on imports from the 27-member bloc, European Commission sources have said.

Leading tech sector figures such as Elon Musk, owner of social media platform X, and Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook's parent company Meta, who are both close to Trump, could soon find their companies on the receiving end of legislation known as an anti-coercion instrument.

This permits the Commission, the EU's executive arm, to restrict trade in services if it feels tariffs are being applied to goods in a bid to force changes in policy.

Potential courses of action against tech companies could include revoking the protection of intellectual property rights or their commercial exploitation, such as streaming services or software downloads. Financial services organizations could also find their market access limited.

EU trade ministers met on Tuesday to discuss the threat and it is understood they backed using the measures if necessary, although they preferred a negotiated outcome. "If we are hit, we will react firmly," said Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic.

During Trump's first term in office in 2018, the EU took three months to respond after he imposed tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum.

France's Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade Laurent Saint-Martin told the Financial Times newspaper that the EU could not afford to repeat such a slow response if hostilities were renewed. "Speed is one of the key issues, we have to be ready faster than last time," he said. "We have to be more united and faster."

As long ago as 2019, before taking up her current role, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen set out her views on big tech companies and their influence.

"The platforms are less interested in what I did yesterday. Their interest lies in what I will do tomorrow and why I do that. It is all about predicting and influencing my behavior, your behavior," she said in a speech in Berlin, adding that Europeans needed to "shape our own approach to the digital world".

"Europe puts values, rights, trust and the rule of law above all else …for us, new technologies will never mean new values," she added.

Following last week's announcement of tariffs on goods from China, Mexico and Canada, Trump said the EU would be next.