STRASBOURG, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) will defend itself against any form of coercion, European Council President Antonio Costa said on Wednesday.

"We stand ready to defend ourselves, our member states, our citizens, our companies, against any form of coercion. The EU has the power and the tools to do so," Costa said in a speech at the European Parliament.

"We cannot accept that the law of the strongest prevails over the rights of the weakest," Costa said, adding that "international rules are not optional, and alliances cannot just boil down to a sequence of transactions."

Costa's remarks came after U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Saturday that the United States would impose a 10-percent tariff from Feb. 1 on goods from eight European countries opposing his ambition to control Greenland.

Trump warned the tariff rate would rise to 25 percent on June 1 and remain in place until a deal is reached for the "complete and total purchase" of Greenland.

Further tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and are incompatible with the EU-U.S. trade agreement, Costa said. ■