"Already taken place" is not crucial, as the conditional can obviously be placed on it continuing.
Plus, an action like an embargo or sanction can be devastating to a country while still being "non-military". That old BS embargo on Iraq has claimed hundreds of thousands lives for example [1].
In fact, what we do have now is that "non-military" action happening, and no counter-response. So, it's more like them sucking up and taking it, with some verbal threats added to save face.
