A 3D-printed miniature mannequin of U.S. President Donald Trump, the EU flag and the phrase “tariffs” seem on this illustration taken Jan. 17. Reuters
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday vowed to implement a wave of accelerating tariffs on European allies till the USA is allowed to purchase Greenland, escalating a row over the way forward for Denmark’s huge Arctic island.
In a put up on Reality Social, Trump mentioned extra 10 p.c import tariffs would take impact on February 1 on items from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Nice Britain — all already topic to tariffs imposed by Trump.
These tariffs would improve to 25 p.c on June 1 and would proceed till a deal was reached for the U.S. to buy Greenland, Trump wrote.
Trump has repeatedly insisted he’ll accept nothing lower than possession of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. Leaders of each Denmark and Greenland have insisted the island will not be on the market and doesn’t wish to be a part of the USA.
A Reuters/Ipsos ballot of U.S. residents this week discovered that lower than one in 5 respondents help the concept of buying Greenland.
Trump desires Greenland for safety, minerals
The president has repeatedly mentioned Greenland is significant to U.S. safety due to its strategic location and huge mineral deposits, and has not dominated out utilizing power to take it. European nations this week despatched navy personnel to the island at Denmark’s request.
“These Nations, who’re enjoying this very harmful recreation, have put a stage of threat in play that isn’t tenable or sustainable,” Trump wrote. Protesters in Denmark and Greenland demonstrated on Saturday in opposition to Trump’s calls for and known as for the territory to be left to find out its personal future.
The international locations named by Trump on Saturday have backed Denmark, warning that the U.S. navy seizure of a territory in NATO might collapse the navy alliance that Washington leads.
“The president’s announcement comes as a shock,” Denmark’s Overseas Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen mentioned in a press release.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was unusually blunt in condemning Trump’s menace, saying on X that his nation would increase the difficulty immediately with Washington.
“Making use of tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective safety of NATO allies is totally improper,” Starmer mentioned.
European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa mentioned in separate however an identical posts on X that the European Union stood in “full solidarity” with Denmark and Greenland.
“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and threat a harmful downward spiral. Europe will stay united, coordinated, and dedicated to upholding its sovereignty,” they mentioned.
A crowd walks to the U.S. consulate to protest in opposition to Trump’s coverage in the direction of Greenland in Nuuk, Greenland, Jan. 17.AP-Yonhap
Officers from Norway, Sweden, France and Germany reiterated help for Denmark on Saturday and mentioned tariffs shouldn’t be a part of Greenland discussions.
Cyprus, which presently holds the EU presidency, mentioned it has known as for an emergency assembly of ambassadors from the union’s 27 international locations on Sunday.
Commerce offers below menace?
Saturday’s menace might derail tentative offers Trump struck final yr with the European Union and Nice Britain. The offers included baseline levies of 15 p.c on imports from Europe and 10 p.c on most British items.
“The largest hazard, it appears to me, is his resolution to deal with some EU international locations totally different from others,” mentioned William Reinsch, a commerce knowledgeable on the Middle for Strategic and Worldwide Research. “I am not stunned … It could properly persuade the European Parliament that it’s pointless to approve the commerce settlement with the U.S., since Trump is already bypassing it.” Trump floated the overall concept of tariffs over Greenland on Friday, with out citing a authorized foundation for doing so. Tariffs have grow to be his weapon of selection in looking for to compel American adversaries and allies alike to satisfy his calls for.
He mentioned this week he would put 25 p.c tariffs on any nation buying and selling with Iran as that nation suppressed anti-government protests, although there was no official documentation from the White Home of the coverage on its web site, nor details about the authorized authority Trump would use. The U.S. Supreme Courtroom has heard arguments on the legality of Trump’s sweeping tariffs, and any resolution by the highest U.S. judicial physique would have main implications on the worldwide economic system and U.S. presidential powers.
The encroaching presence of China and Russia makes Greenland important to U.S. safety pursuits, Trump has mentioned. Danish and different European officers have identified that Greenland is already lined by NATO’s collective safety pact.
A U.S. navy base, Pituffik Area Base, is already in Greenland, with round 200 personnel, and a 1951 settlement permits the USA to deploy as many forces because it desires within the Danish territory.
Inuits sing a nationwide music throughout a protest in opposition to Trump’s coverage in the direction of Greenland in entrance of the U.S. consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, Jan. 17. AP-Yonhap
That has led many European officers to conclude that Trump is motivated extra by a need to increase U.S. territory than by safety issues.
“China and Russia should be having a subject day. They’re those who profit from divisions amongst allies,” EU international coverage chief Kaja Kallas mentioned on X in response to Trump’s menace.
Some U.S. senators additionally pushed again. “Persevering with down this path is dangerous for America, dangerous for American companies and dangerous for America’s allies,” Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis, bipartisan co-chairs of the Senate NATO Observer Group, mentioned in a press release.
Europeans shouldn’t react rapidly to Trump’s tariff menace, mentioned Carsten Brzeski, international head of macro at ING Analysis.
“Simply ignore it and wait and see,” Brzeski advised Reuters. “Europe has proven that it’ll not settle for all the pieces, and so the tariffs are literally already a step ahead in comparison with the threatened navy invasion.”
