WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that he will impose a 10 percent tariff on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and Finland from Feb. 1 because of Greenland. He said the duty will be in place until the United States manages to strike a deal to buy the Arctic island.
If the agreement „on the complete and total buy-out of Greenland“ is not completed by 1 June, the duty will increase to 25 per cent from that date. Trump's He told on his social network, Truth Social. The countries have joined together in support of Denmark, which has made it clear that the semi-autonomous island is not for sale. The democratically elected representatives of the Greenlanders themselves have also repeatedly stated that they are not interested in becoming part of the United States. Trump's threat is also aimed at key European allies of the US and will create further pressure on the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Bloomberg reports.
The agency said it was unclear what authority Trump would use and how he would seek to apply individual new tariffs to European Union member states. In the past, he has relied on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act for similar threats. Trump's announcement came after Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lökke Rasmussen met with top Trump administration officials and members of Congress in Washington this week. The meeting was also attended by Greenland's Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt. Rasmussen told reporters after the meeting that „fundamental disagreement“ persists over Greenland.
Macron says threat to raise tariffs over Greenland unacceptable
President Trump's threat to raise tariffs over Greenland is unacceptable. If the increase is confirmed, Europe will react in a coordinated manner, He told French President Emmanuel Macron on the social network X this evening. Other EU politicians are also reacting to Trump's announcement that he will raise import tariffs on eight European countries from 1 February. „No intimidation or threats will affect us, neither in Ukraine, nor in Greenland, nor anywhere else in the world, when we encounter such situations,“ the French president wrote. He said customs threats were unacceptable and had no place in the context. „The Europeans will react to them in a united and coordinated manner if they are confirmed,“ he added.
Trump announced this afternoon that he is raising import tariffs on eight EU countries starting February 1 and that they will remain in place until the United States concludes a deal to buy Greenland from Denmark. The additional 10 per cent import tariffs are to apply to all goods imported into the US from the eight countries that opposed Trump's desire to acquire the Arctic island. Currently, a 15% tariff has been in place since the summer on most EU exports to the US.
„We can say that the European Union will always defend international law very strongly, wherever it may be, which of course starts on the territory of EU member states,“ European Council President António Costa told Reuters, who is in Paraguay today to sign a trade deal with the South American bloc Mercosur. „For the time being, I am coordinating a joint response from EU member states on this issue,“ he added.
„The German government has taken note of the remarks made by the US president,“ spokesman Stefan Kornelius said in Berlin. „It is consulting closely with its European partners. Together we will decide on appropriate responses in due course,“ he added. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lökke Rasmussen said Denmark was surprised by the threat to impose tariffs. We will not be intimidated, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told AFP. German car industry representatives have warned of the impact of additional tariffs. „The cost of these additional tariffs would be enormous for the German and European industry, especially in these already challenging times,“ Hildegard Müller, president of the German Automobile Industry Association VDA, wrote to Reuters.
Thousands of people in Greenland and Denmark protested against Trump's wish to acquire Greenland
Thousands of people gathered in the capital of Greenland today to protest against President Trump's plans to annex the autonomous Danish territory to the United States. Among the demonstrators was the local Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen. Demonstrations were also held in a number of Danish cities, including the capital Copenhagen, for the same reason, with thousands of people also taking part, AFP and Bloomberg reported. In Greenland, demonstrators waved the Greenland flag and chanted slogans and sang traditional Inuit songs in a light rain. Some wore hats with the slogan „Make America Go Away“, an allusion to Trump's MAGA campaign, or Make America Great Again.
The protest in central Copenhagen was attended by more than 20,000 people, the same number as the population of the Greenlandic capital, according to the organisers. The demonstrators marched to the US embassy and were not deterred by the cold weather. Many of them carried banners with slogans such as „The US has had enough ice“ or „Yankee go home“ and „Greenland is not for sale“ or „Hands off Greenland“. „It's not just about Greenland; it's about respect for nations and borders, and that small societies must not be subjected to pressure from big powers,“ Anja Geisler, a Greenlander living in Denmark, said at the protest outside Copenhagen City Hall. „Today we are all Greenlanders.“
ČTK/ceskénoviny.cz/gnews.cz-jav
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