The entire EU could be caught in the crosshairs of additional tariffs, threatening the EU-US trade deal reached last year, as US President Donald Trump doubles down on his ambition to bring Greenland, a Danish territory, under US control.
“I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland because we need Greenland for national security,” Trump said at a press conference on Friday.
In recent weeks, Trump has repeated his ambition to acquire Greenland and said military force could be used to seize the island. Danish and Greenlandic government officials have responded that Greenland is not for sale and Denmark – along with its allies – has bolstered the island’s defences in recent days.
If Trump were to make good on his tariff threat, it could upend the EU US trade deal agreed last summer, which saw the EU swallow a flat 15% tariff across most sectors.
Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s trade committee, said it remains unclear whether the tariffs will materialise, but added that he expects lawmakers to postpone ratifying the agreement when they convene on Wednesday.
“It’s difficult to explain how we could move ahead with this while the Americans are making such threats,” he told Euractiv. “You can’t rely on this deal.”
Last week, Per Clausen, a far-left Danish lawmaker in the European Parliament, suggested postponing approval of the trade deal until Trump walks back his ambitions for Greenland.
The European Commission, which is in charge of EU trade policy, declined to comment on Trump’s remarks on Friday.
Trump’s comments came days after a meeting in Washington between Denmark and Greenland’s foreign ministers and US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio failed to yield a compromise.
On Friday, the European Commission clarified that Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory under Denmark, is covered by the EU treaties’ mutual assistance clause, obliging other member states to provide assistance.
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Freeze US trade deal over Trump Greenland threats, EU lawmaker urges
The EU should hold off completing its trade deal with the United States until Donald…
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