Europe Hits Back at Trump Tariff Threat over Greenland

European countries, including Denmark, where Greenland is an autonomous region, said they were “united” against Trump’s promise on Saturday to impose tariffs of up to 25 percent on them unless Greenland is handed over to the United States.

“Tariff threats are undermining transatlantic relations and leading to a dangerous decline,” Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden warned in a joint statement.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said Trump’s ultimatum threatened the world order “as we know it” and the future of the NATO military alliance.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said he had spoken to Trump about “the security situation in Greenland and the Arctic” and hoped to speak again at this week’s Davos summit. He did not provide detailed information about his conversations.

The European Council said it would invite EU leaders to a summit in the coming days, following a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels on Sunday.

– Trade deal threat –

The bloc signed a deal with Washington in July under which most EU exports face a 15 percent U.S. tariff. It was unclear how Trump’s threatened tariffs would work against this agreement.

“I do not believe that this agreement is possible in the current situation,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told ARD television.

Aides to French President Emmanuel Macron said that if Trump imposes additional tariffs, he will ask the EU to deploy an “anti-repression tool” that has never been used against Washington before.

This measure allows limiting imports of goods and services into the EU, a market consisting of 27 countries with a total population of 450 million.

Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to seize Greenland since returning to the White House for a second term.

His rhetoric towards this goal has hardened after he ordered a military operation against Venezuela earlier this month to capture its leader Nicolas Maduro.

-‘Blackmail’-

Trump and his administration argued that placing Greenland under US administration would serve American “national security”.

He and his aides also argued that NATO member Denmark would not be able to defend Greenland if Russia or China attempted an invasion.

Denmark and several of its European NATO allies recently responded by sending a small number of military personnel to Greenland for an exercise to which the United States was also invited.

On Saturday, thousands of people in Greenland and Denmark protested the US effort to control the Arctic island.

The phrase “Make America Away” on the caps worn by many demonstrators is a reference to Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again.”

Trump responded on Saturday by threatening to impose a 10 percent tariff on goods coming to the United States from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, starting Feb. 1.

It will increase to 25 percent starting June 1 “until an agreement is reached for the full purchase of Greenland,” Trump wrote on social media platform Truth Social.

Even Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of Trump’s closest European allies, spoke out against the threat.

“I believe it would be a mistake to impose new sanctions today,” he told reporters during a trip to Seoul.

“I spoke to Donald Trump a few hours ago and told him what I was thinking,” he added.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it “completely wrong” and said he planned to discuss the situation with Trump “at the earliest opportunity”.

Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel condemned Trump’s threat as an “inexplicable” form of “blackmail”.

– Fear of trade war –

French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevrard warned that tariffs would also hurt Washington.

“Trump has a lot to lose in this escalation of tariffs, as does his own farmers and industrialists,” he told broadcasters Europe 1 and CNews.

Norway, which was the target of Trump’s tariff threat but is not an EU member like Britain, said it did not intend to retaliate against US goods at this time.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told NRK television, “I think it is necessary to stop and think in order to prevent a downward trade war.” he said. “No one will win.”