The announcement by Trump to impose tariffs of 10%+15% on eight European countries (Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden and Finland) that sent military forces to Greenland in order to force them not to oppose his annexation plans for the territory, is characterized by the BBC as an unprecedented move.
“Over the past year we have heard some unusual and unexpected economic threats from President Trump, but I think it’s safe to say that this one surpasses them all and takes us into surreal and absolutely dangerous territory,” the BBC notes in its analysis, describing a form of economic warfare that the White House is imposing on its closest allies, as the threat concerns an incredibly short timeframe and could serve as a pretext to dissolve NATO and the Western alliance.
“And this is not so much because of the level of tariffs but because of its logic – the seizure of land by an ally and the public attempt to coerce allies. How would the world react if China or Russia had sent such a threat to some of their allies?” the BBC continues, reminding that on Wednesday Trump will meet with the leaders of allied countries, whose economies he just threatened, at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
EU-US trade agreement suspended – “Approval is not possible at this stage”
For its part, the Guardian notes that Trump’s threats “constitute a devastating blow to the agreements he concluded with these countries last summer,” estimating that they represent an attempt to divide Europe and suppress its disagreement regarding Greenland. Characteristic was the reaction of the European People’s Party and the European Socialists on Saturday evening, who declared that the US-EU tariff agreement cannot be approved under the current circumstances.
Trump’s threat also ignores the fact that individual member states do not have individual trade agreements with the US. All of the EU’s international trade agreements are conducted centrally through Brussels, as happened last summer. As the British newspaper reminds us, while the Washington-Brussels trade agreement has come into force in the US, the 0% tariffs promised to the US have not yet been legally ratified in the EU.
“The EPP is in favor of the EU-US trade agreement, but given Donald Trump’s threats regarding Greenland, approval is not possible at this stage,” said Manfred Weber, leader of the EPP. “The 0% tariffs on American products must be suspended.” Kathleen van Brempt, vice-president for trade of S&D, said that “there can be no trade agreement under the current circumstances.” In the same spirit, the liberal parliamentary group Renew declared that it would participate in efforts to suspend the ratification of the trade agreement with the US.
According to the Guardian “the latest threat will be seen as yet another attempt by a man – sometimes ally, sometimes adversary – who is desperate to win a dispute, using one of his favorite weapons. It will also be seen as an attempt to divide Europe and suppress its opposition to his ambition to seize Greenland. Saturday’s threat underscores the unstable nature of any agreement with Trump, but also appears to have raised the temperature in the EU, which many consider weak against the multiple intimidation tactics of the US.
Mikkel Runge Olesen, senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, said that Trump’s latest threat was a sign that Europe’s opposition to his threat to seize Greenland was having an effect. “I think it’s a reaction to the deployment of European troops to Greenland, because if you look at the tariffs, they correspond to the countries that sent troops,” he told Sky News and added: “We will never see American troops in Greenland, this is a negotiating tactic.”
