Trump vows tariffs on eight European nations over Greenland

Summary

• Trump threatens rising tariffs on European allies from Feb 1, increasing to 25% by June, until the US can buy Greenland.
• Trump claims Greenland's strategic location and mineral deposits are vital to US security, not ruling out using force to acquire it.
• European nations sent military personnel to Greenland at Denmark's request, leading to protests against Trump's demands for the island.

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump vowed on Jan 17 to implement a wave of increasing tariffs on European allies unless the US is allowed to buy Greenland, escalating a row over the future of Denmark’s vast Arctic island.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said an additional 10 per cent import tariff would take effect on Feb 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Britain – all of which are already subject to tariffs imposed by him.

Those tariffs would rise to 25 per cent on June 1 and remain in place until a deal was reached for the US to purchase Greenland, he wrote.

Mr Trump has repeatedly insisted he will settle for nothing less than ownership of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.

Leaders of both Denmark and Greenland have insisted that the island is not for sale and does not want to be part of the US.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll of US residents this week found that fewer than one in five respondents support the idea of acquiring Greenland.

Mr Trump has repeatedly said Greenland is vital to US security due to its strategic location and large mineral deposits, and has not ruled out using force
to take it.

European nations this week sent military personnel to the island
at Denmark’s request.

“These countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable,” the US leader wrote.

Protesters in Denmark and Greenland demonstrated on Jan 17
against Mr Trump’s demands and called for the territory to be left to determine its own future.

The countries named by Mr Trump on Jan 17 have backed Denmark, warning that the US military seizure of a territory within NATO could collapse the military alliance
that Washington leads.

Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, in a statement, said: “The (US) President’s announcement comes as a surprise.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was unusually blunt in condemning Mr Trump’s threat, saying on social media platform X that his country would raise the issue directly with Washington.

“Applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of NATO allies is completely wrong,” Mr Starmer said.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa said in separate but identical posts on X that the European Union stood in “full solidarity” with Denmark and Greenland.

“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” they said.

Officials from Norway, Sweden, France and Germany reiterated support for Denmark on Jan 17 and said tariffs should not be part of Greenland discussions.

Cyprus, which currently holds the EU presidency, said it had called for an emergency meeting of ambassadors from the union’s 27 countries on Jan 18.

Trade deals under threat?

The Jan 17 threat could derail tentative deals Mr Trump struck in 2025 with the EU and Britain.

The deals included baseline levies of 15 per cent on imports from Europe and 10 per cent on most British goods.

“The biggest danger, it seems to me, is his decision to treat some EU countries differently from others,” said Mr William Reinsch, a trade expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“I’m not surprised... It may well convince the European Parliament that it is pointless to approve the trade agreement with the US, since Trump is already bypassing it.”

Mr Trump floated the general idea of tariffs over Greenland on Jan 16, without citing any legal basis for doing so.

Tariffs have become his weapon of choice in seeking to compel American adversaries and allies alike to meet his demands.

Mr Trump said this week that he would put 25 per cent tariffs on any country trading with Iran
while that country suppressed anti-government protests, although there has been no official documentation from the White House of the policy on its website, nor information about the legal authority he would use.

The US Supreme Court has heard arguments
on the legality of the sweeping tariffs, and any decision by the top US judicial body would have major implications for the global economy and US presidential powers.

Mr Trump has said that the encroaching presence of China and Russia
makes Greenland vital to US security interests. Danish and other European officials have pointed out that NATO’s collective security pact covers Greenland.

A US military base, Pituffik Space Base, is already in Greenland, with about 200 personnel, and a 1951 agreement allows the US to deploy as many forces as it wants in the Danish territory.

That has led many European officials to conclude that Mr Trump is motivated more by a desire to expand US territory than security concerns.

“China and Russia must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among allies,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on X in response to Mr Trump’s threat.

Some US senators also pushed back.

“Continuing down this path is bad for America, bad for American businesses and bad for America’s allies,” senators Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis, bipartisan co-chairs of the Senate NATO Observer Group, said in a statement.

Europeans should not react hastily to Mr Trump’s tariff threat, said Mr Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING Research.

“Just ignore it and wait and see,” he said. “Europe has shown that it will not accept everything, and so the tariffs are actually already a step forward compared with the threatened military invasion.” REUTERS