The European Commission has reportedly been handing US-bound staff burner phones and basic laptops to reduce the risk of spying.
Measures usually used on trips to Ukraine and China have been brought in as senior officials travel to the IMF and World Bank spring meetings next week, The Financial Times reports.
Usual IT equipment tends to be left at home for these visits over fears of Russian or Chinese surveillance.
Guidance for all staff travelling to the US reportedly includes turning phones off at the US border and placing them in special sleeves to protect them from spying if left unattended.
No instructions about the use of burner phones have been given in writing, the Commission told the FT, but explained that it had recently updated its security advice for staff heading to America.
US border staff have the right to seize visitors’ phones and computers to check their content, and there have been previous reports of people being refused entry to the country for having social media comments or documents that criticise the Trump administration.
One official told the FT that the European Commission is worried about the US getting into its systems, while another dubbed how “the transatlantic alliance is over”.
The relationship between the European Union and the US has worsened since Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Trump hit the world’s largest trading bloc with 20% tariffs on his market-spiralling “Liberation Day” last month, but has since brought in a pause on the levies.
The precise details of the pause were not immediately clear, but the US treasury secretary has said Mr Trump will keep a 10% baseline tariff on most countries.
Ireland’s deputy premier Simon Harris said that negotiations with the US were “likely” last week after a 90-day pause was introduced on certain sweeping tariffs.
The trading relationship between the EU and US is worth 1.6trillion euro per year.
