Global trade is no longer a neutral marketplace but a field organised around geopolitical blocs and security concerns. For an exceptionally open economy like the EU, this shift reshapes supply chains, industrial policy and foreign economic strategy. This analysis examines how European firms are adapting, how Brussels is using industrial, trade and economic security tools to de risk critical dependencies, and why deepening the single market and investing in innovation may matter as much as new tariffs or subsidies in navigating an era of trade fragmentation.