Europeans were reeling yesterday from US President Donald Trump’s announcement that eight countries would face 10 percent tariffs for opposing US control of Greenland.
The responses to Trump’s decision on Saturday ranged from saying it risked “a dangerous downward spiral” to predicting that “China and Russia must be having a field day.”
Trump’s threat sets up a potentially dangerous test of US partnerships in Europe. Several European countries have sent troops to Greenland in the past few days, saying they are there for arctic security training. Trump’s announcement came as thousands of Greenlanders were wrapping up a protest outside the US Consulate in the capital, Nuuk.
Photo: AP
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 US national security. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland would face the tariff.
There are immediate questions about how the White House could try to implement the tariffs because the EU is a single economic zone in terms of trading, according to a European diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity.
It was also unclear how Trump could act under US law, although he could cite emergency economic powers that are currently subject to a US Supreme Court challenge.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said China and Russia would benefit from the divisions between the US and the EU.
“If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO. Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity,” she wrote on social media.
Trump’s move also was panned domestically.
US Senator Mark Kelly said that Trump’s threatened tariffs on US allies would make Americans “pay more to try to get territory we don’t need.”
“Troops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend the territory from us. Let that sink in,” he wrote on social media. “The damage this President is doing to our reputation and our relationships is growing, making us less safe. If something doesn’t change we will be on our own with adversaries and enemies in every direction.”
Norway and the UK are not part of the 27-member EU. It was not immediately clear if Trump’s tariffs would impact the entire bloc. EU envoys scheduled emergency talks for yesterday evening to determine a potential response.
European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged to continue their 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 wrote in a joint statement late on Saturday.
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