Sell ​​US Greenland or get tariffs

President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that tariffs would be gradually increased on products from eight NATO countries sent to the United States “until we reach an agreement on a complete and comprehensive purchase of Greenland.”

Tariffs targeting Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland will begin at 10% starting February 1, President Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

The president said tariffs would increase to a maximum of 25% on June 1.

This penalty would likely be in addition to existing U.S. tariffs already imposed on products from these countries.

The U.S. already imposes tariffs on its allies averaging around 15% on products from European Union countries targeted by President Trump, and around 10% on imports from Britain, with rates varying by sector.

In sensitive sectors such as metals and some automobiles, the cumulative measures have already pushed effective tariffs into the mid-teens to mid-twenties range.

Imposing tariffs on one or more of the 27 EU member states means the new tariffs apply to all member states. President Trump’s demands now threaten the EU-US trade deal signed in August.

Manfred Weber, a senior member of the European Parliament (MEP), said a trade deal between the EU and the US was “not possible at this stage”.

“The EPP is in favor of an EU-US trade agreement, but given President Donald Trump’s threats regarding Greenland, approval is not possible at this stage,” he wrote in a post on X. “0% tariffs on US goods should be put on hold.”

EU ambassadors are scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Sunday, Reuters reported. Cyprus, which holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, convened the meeting, which is scheduled to start at 5pm local time (11am ET).

President Trump’s post suggested new tariffs were being imposed on European allies in response to the movement of troops to Greenland. Their move comes as the Trump administration is considering using the U.S. military as part of its efforts to gain territory in Denmark.

President Trump wrote that eight countries “traveled to Greenland for unknown purposes.” “This is a very dangerous situation for the safety, security, and survival of our planet.”

A day earlier, President Trump indicated he might pursue a tariff strategy against Greenland similar to the one he used to force foreign countries to lower drug prices.

“We might do that with Greenland, too. We might impose tariffs on countries that don’t agree with Greenland, because we need Greenland for our national security,” he said at the White House on Friday.

Although the president did not mention specific legislation in his announcement on Truth Social, the recent move appears to reflect his use of the controversial International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives the president broad powers in the event of an “unusual and extraordinary threat.”

The Supreme Court could rule as early as next week on whether to lift tariffs imposed under the law, which could immediately put this new tranche in jeopardy and effectively intervene in a new trade war.

Scott Linthicum, a trade policy scholar at the Cato Institute, warned Saturday that new threats expose the vulnerability of relying on unilateral agreements rather than binding treaties.

“President Trump’s tariff announcement confirms that trade agreements are subject to change on a whim and are unlikely to rein in daily tariff impulses,” Linthicum said in a statement. “Today’s threats highlight the hollow legitimacy of President Trump’s so-called ’emergency’ tariffs and reveal the economic and geopolitical problems that unrestricted executive power creates.”

Across Europe, targeted countries reacted with condemnation, characterizing the tariffs as a hostile act against a close military ally that threatens the very fabric of the transatlantic partnership.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who spearheads the European Union’s trade policy, slammed the White House’s ultimatum, saying the tariffs are not just a trade dispute but a test of Western values.

“We choose partnership and cooperation,” von der Leyen wrote in a post to Blue Sky shortly after the announcement. “We choose business and we choose people.”

Similarly, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told MS Now on Saturday that President Trump’s actions were a “surprise,” citing recent “constructive meetings” with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Mr. Frederiksen pushed back on Trump’s claims about the troop movement, saying the increased presence was solely to “strengthen security” in the Arctic, which is “no longer a low-tension region,” and was done in “full transparency” with U.S. allies.

Leaders of other European countries took a similarly resolute stance. European Council President Antonio Costa said on Saturday that the European Union was “coordinating a joint response” to the threat.

“The European Union will always resolutely uphold international law, wherever it may be,” Costa said at a press conference on Saturday after the signing of a trade deal between the EU and South American countries in Paraguay.

French President Emmanuel Macron echoed this sentiment, writing on X that “no threats or threats will affect us.” President Macron warned that “the forces of stability have awakened” and vowed that France would stand firm with its neighbors.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has strongly rejected President Trump’s tariff threat.

“We will not allow ourselves to be intimidated,” he wrote to X, adding: “Only Denmark and Greenland decide on issues concerning Denmark and Greenland.”

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Callas warned that new tariffs would play directly into the hands of China and Russia.

“China and Russia must be in a tizzy. They are the ones who benefit from the division between allies,” he said in a post on X. “If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this within NATO.”

President Trump’s move will place further strain on NATO, the 32-nation military alliance created after World War II. The basis of the alliance is the agreement that an attack on any member state is considered an attack on all members.

European leaders have warned that any attempt by the United States to seize Greenland by force could spell the end of NATO.

President Trump’s tariff announcement may signal that he will end his threat of military action to achieve his long-held goal of occupying the island. But this will nevertheless increase pressure on Denmark and other European countries, which have made it clear that Greenland is not for sale.

Some are warning European leaders not to react too quickly to Trump’s tariff threats.

“You should just ignore it and wait and see,” Kirsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING Research, told Reuters. “Europe has shown that it will not accept everything, so tariffs are actually already a step forward compared to the threat of military invasion.”

The bipartisan U.S. Congressional delegation in Copenhagen pushed back against Trump’s rhetoric as the White House ramped up pressure.

“There is no imminent security threat to Greenland,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, told reporters Saturday morning.

Coons and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) led the trip to “restore trust” with Greenland, Coons said.

Both senators took issue with President Trump’s labeling of the European troop move as a plot to prevent the U.S. from acquiring the island, Coons said, instead praising the deployment as NATO allies “stepping up” to protect the High North from Russian aggression.

“We should take this as an encouraging signal as we see active training and deployment taking place in one of the harshest and most remote places on Earth,” Coons said.

Mukovsky stressed that despite the president’s attacks, support for Denmark remains strong across party lines.

“We cannot allow this to become a partisan issue,” she said. “Support for our friends and allies…is not how it should be.”

Similarly, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (DN.H.) and Sen. Thom Tillis (RN.C.), members of the bipartisan Senate NATO Monitoring Group, warned that threatening tariffs on NATO would increase costs for American families while benefiting adversaries such as Russia and China.

“Continuing down this path is bad for America, bad for American businesses, and bad for America’s allies…These tariffs will raise prices for both households and businesses at a time when many Americans are already concerned about the cost of living,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement.

The lawmakers said Danish and Greenlandic officials want to “partner with the United States” and called on the administration to “stop threatening and switch to diplomacy.”

— Terri Cullen contributed to this report.

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