US President Donald Trump promised this Saturday (17) to implement a wave of escalating tariffs on European allies until the United States is allowed to buy Greenlandescalating the dispute over the future of Denmark’s vast Arctic island.
In a post on his own social media site, Truth Social, Trump said additional 10% import tariffs would take effect on February 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and the United Kingdom. All already subject to tariffs imposed by Trump.
Those tariffs would increase to 25% on June 1 and continue until an agreement was reached for the U.S. to purchase Greenland, Trump wrote.
Europe
The announcement comes on the same day that Mercosur and the European Union sign a free trade agreement sewn 25 years ago. In speeches during the signing of the agreement in Paraguay, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, praised the partnership with South Americans and criticized Trump’s tariff policyeven without mentioning it.
“This agreement sends a very strong message to the world. We choose fair trade over tariffs. We choose long-term partnerships over isolation,” said Von der Leyen.
The president of the European Council, António Costa, adopted a similar tone.
“This agreement is a commitment to openness, exchange and cooperation, in the face of [ameaças de] isolation and the use of trade as a geopolitical weapon”, he said. “With it, we do not aspire to create spheres of influence, but rather spheres of shared prosperity, based on trust, cooperation and respect for the sovereignty of our democracies”, he added.
In the face of Trump’s threats, prominent European Union countries supported Denmark, warning that the US military seizure of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) territory could collapse the military alliance led by Washington. The United Kingdom also gave its support.
Groups in Denmark and Greenland protested Saturday against Trump’s demands and called for the country to be left to determine its own future.
Greenland and USA
The president has repeatedly said that Greenland is vital to U.S. security because of its strategic location and large mineral deposits, and has not ruled out using force to take it. European nations sent military personnel to the island this week at Denmark’s request.
“These countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have brought into play a level of risk that is not sustainable,” Trump wrote.
“The United States of America is immediately open to negotiations with Denmark and/or any of these countries that have put so much at risk despite everything we have done for them, including maximum protection, over so many decades,” he said.
* With information from Reuters Agency
