Europeans reacted with alarm Sunday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that eight countries would face 10% tariffs for opposing American control of Greenland.
Responses to Trump’s decision, announced Saturday, ranged from warnings that it could trigger “a dangerous downward spiral” to predictions that “China and Russia must be having a field day.”
The move sets up a potentially volatile test of U.S. partnerships in Europe. Several European countries have sent troops to Greenland in recent days, saying the deployments are for Arctic security training. Trump’s announcement came as thousands of Greenlanders were concluding a protest outside the U.S. Consulate in the capital, Nuuk.
The Republican president appeared to signal that the tariffs were intended as leverage to force talks with Denmark and other European nations over the status of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark that Trump has repeatedly described as vital to U.S. national security.
Under Trump’s plan, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland would be subject to the tariffs.
Immediate questions arose about how the White House could implement the measures, since the European Union functions as a single economic zone for trade, according to a European diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. It was also unclear how Trump would justify the tariffs under U.S. law, though he could attempt to invoke emergency economic powers currently under review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the dispute would benefit U.S. rivals.
“China and Russia will gain from divisions between Europe and the United States,” she wrote on social media. “If Greenland’s security is at risk, this can be addressed within NATO. Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity.”
Trump’s move also drew domestic criticism in the United States.
U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat and former U.S. Navy pilot, said the tariffs would force Americans to “pay more to try to get territory we don’t need.”
“Troops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend the territory from us. Let that sink in,” Kelly wrote on social media. “The damage this president is doing to our reputation and relationships is growing, making us less safe.”
Norway and the United Kingdom are not members of the EU, and it was not immediately clear whether Trump’s tariffs would affect the entire 27-nation bloc. EU ambassadors scheduled emergency talks for Sunday evening to consider a response.
European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged full solidarity with Denmark and Greenland.
“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral,” they said in a joint statement. “Europe will remain united, coordinated and committed to upholding its sovereignty.”
The announcement even prompted criticism from some of Trump’s populist allies in Europe.
Jordan Bardella, president of France’s far-right National Rally party and a member of the European Parliament, called the threat “commercial blackmail” and urged the EU to suspend last year’s tariff agreement with the United States.
In Britain, Trump’s move united the country’s major political parties in opposition, including the hard-right Reform UK party.
“These tariffs will hurt us,” wrote Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a longtime Trump ally, though he stopped short of criticizing Trump’s stance on Greenland.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the tariff threat was “completely wrong” and that his government would pursue the matter directly with Washington.
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Norway were expected to address the crisis later Sunday during a news conference in Oslo.