By Michael Martina and Jason Lange
WASHINGTON, Jan 17 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Saturday vowed to implement a wave of increasing tariffs on European allies until the United States is allowed to buy Greenland, escalating a row over the future of Denmark’s vast Arctic island.
In a post on 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 Great Britain — all already subject to tariffs imposed by Trump.
Those tariffs would increase to 25% on June 1 and would continue until a deal was reached for the U.S. to purchase Greenland, Trump wrote.
TRUMP WANTS GREENLAND FOR SECURITY, MINERALS
The president has repeatedly said 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 this week sent military personnel to the island at Denmark’s request.
“These Countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable,” Trump wrote.
“The United States of America is immediately open to negotiation with Denmark and/or any of these Countries that have put so much at risk, despite all that we have done for them, including maximum protection, over so many decades,” he said.
Protesters in Denmark and Greenland demonstrated on Saturday against Trump’s demands and called for the territory to be left to determine its own future.
The countries named by Trump on Saturday have backed Denmark, warning that the U.S. military seizure of a territory in NATO could collapse the military alliance that Washington leads. After the U.S. president’s social media post, Norway’s top diplomat reiterated support for Denmark and said tariffs should not be part of Greenland discussions.
“There is broad agreement within NATO on the need to strengthen security in the Arctic, including in Greenland,” Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement. “We do not think the question of tariffs belongs in this context.”
Trump had floated the idea of tariffs over Greenland on Friday, without citing a legal basis for doing so.
TRADE DEALS UNDER THREAT?
Saturday’s threat could derail tentative deals Trump struck last year with the European Union and Great Britain. The deals included baseline levies of 15% on imports from Europe and 10% on most British goods.
Tariffs have become the U.S. president’s weapon of choice in seeking to compel American adversaries and allies alike to meet his strategic and economic demands.
Trump said this week he would put 25% tariffs on any country trading with Iran as that country suppressed anti-government protests, though there has been no official documentation from the White House of the policy on its website, nor information about the legal authority Trump would use.
The U.S. Supreme Court has heard arguments on the legality of Trump’s sweeping tariffs, and any decision by the top U.S. judicial body would have major implications on the global economy and U.S. presidential powers.
Citing threats from Russia and China, Trump has repeatedly insisted he will settle for nothing less than ownership of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. Leaders of both Denmark and Greenland have insisted the island is not for sale and does not want to be part of the United States.
Danish and other European officials have pointed out that as Greenland is part of NATO, it is already covered by the alliance’s Article 5 collective security pact.
The U.S. already has a military base, Pituffik Space Base, in Greenland, with around 200 troops, and can deploy as many more forces as it wants under a 1951 agreement.
That has led many European officials to conclude that Trump is motivated more by a desire to expand U.S. territory than security concerns.
(Reporting by Jason Lange, Michael Martina, Nora Buli; Editing by Sergio Non, Kevin Liffey, Rod Nickel)
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