Donald Trump threatened to levy sweeping tariffs on key European allies unless the United States is allowed to buy Greenland, escalating a transatlantic confrontation that EU leaders say violates existing trade understandings and challenges the sovereignty of the Danish realm.
In a post on his social media platform, Mr. Trump said Denmark had “not been able to do anything to get the ‘Russian threat’ away from Greenland,” adding: “Now it is time, and it will be done!” He claimed “NATO has been telling Denmark, for 20 years,” to address the security risk and reiterated he would “settle for nothing less than ownership of Greenland,” the autonomous Arctic territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
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Mr. Trump vowed to impose a 10% tariff by the start of February on eight European nations he said had sent troops to Greenland, and to raise those levies to 25% by June if no agreement is reached. The targeted countries are Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom.
He has framed the move as a national security imperative, citing the encroaching presence of China and Russia in the Arctic. European officials counter that Greenland falls under NATO’s collective security umbrella and stress that sovereignty and territorial integrity are not up for negotiation.
The threats triggered an emergency meeting of EU ambassadors, after which diplomats said member states will decide after Feb. 1 whether to revive €93 billion in retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. The measure has been suspended since a framework EU-U.S. trade deal agreed last summer. Officials also discussed, but did not move to deploy, the bloc’s most punitive response tool, the Anti-Coercion Instrument.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke with the NATO secretary general and leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the U.K. as capitals weighed options to contain the fallout. European Council President António Costa called an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders for Thursday, saying the bloc is prepared to defend itself against coercion while leaving space for diplomacy.
In Nuuk, the Greenlandic capital, people marched over the weekend to protest Mr. Trump’s plans. Denmark’s foreign minister said Copenhagen “will not give up” on constructive dialogue over Greenland.
The standoff is expected to shadow the World Economic Forum in Davos, where eight EU leaders — including Ireland’s Taoiseach Micheál Martin — as well as Ms. von der Leyen and the NATO chief are due. European officials plan a concerted effort to steer Mr. Trump away from a trade war — or any military move — ahead of his Wednesday address to the forum, while acknowledging his record of responding to diplomatic outreach with renewed pressure.
Economic concerns were front and center in Dublin and Brussels. Ireland’s Tánaiste and finance minister Simon Harris said the threats are “a clear breach” of last year’s EU-U.S. understanding aimed at providing “certainty and clarity” for markets. “At a time of heightened global uncertainty, it is vital that we avoid actions that risk further instability,” he said, adding the EU must work together to protect supply chains and open trade.
Ireland’s foreign minister, Helen McEntee, said the tariff push and the ongoing U.S. drive to take over Greenland “must be opposed,” adding that Ireland “reiterated its solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland, as well as with the six EU member states that may now face increased tariffs from the United States.” She said the measures are “not compatible with the EU-U.S. agreement” and risk undermining transatlantic ties “at a time when co-operation matters more than ever.”
For its part, the EU has signaled it will keep diplomatic channels open while preparing defensive trade measures if necessary. The bloc’s immediate priority, officials said, is to avoid a spiral of tariffs while restating that Greenland’s status within the Kingdom of Denmark, and its security under NATO, are not bargaining chips.
Additional reporting: Reuters
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
