Trump announces tariffs against European nations unless U.S. can purchase Greenland
CBC
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U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that he would charge a 10 per cent import tax starting in February on goods from eight European nations because of their opposition to American control of Greenland, setting up a potentially dangerous test of U.S. partnerships in Europe.
Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland would face the tariff, Trump said in a social media post while at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Fla. The rate would climb to 25 per cent on June 1 if no deal was in place for "the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland" by the United States, he said.
The countries named by Trump on Saturday have backed Denmark, warning that the U.S. military seizure of a territory in NATO could collapse the military alliance that Washington leads.
The Republican president appeared to indicate that he was using the tariffs as leverage to force talks with Denmark and other European countries over the status of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark that he regards as critical to U.S. national security.
"The United States of America is immediately open to negotiation with Denmark and/or any of these Countries that have put so much at risk, despite all that we have done for them," Trump said on Truth Social.
The tariff threat could mark a problematic rupture between Trump and America's longtime NATO partners, further straining an alliance that dates to 1949 and provides a collective degree of security to Europe and North America.
Trump has repeatedly tried to use trade penalties to bend allies and rivals alike to his will, generating investment commitments from some nations and pushback from others, notably China.
Trump is scheduled to travel on Tuesday to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he likely will run into the European leaders he just threatened with tariffs that would start in little more than two weeks.
French President Emmanuel Macron pushed back against Trump in a social media post that seemed to equate the threat to Russian leader Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine.
"No intimidation or threats will influence us, whether in Ukraine, Greenland or anywhere else in the world when we are faced with such situations," Macron said in a translated post on X.
"Tariff threats are unacceptable and have no place in this context. Europeans will respond in a united and coordinated manner."
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EU Commission, said on social media that tariffs would "undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral."
"The EU stands in full solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland," she said. "Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty."
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