Emergency European Meeting After Trump's Duty Threat Over Greenland

SadaNews - Representatives of EU member states are scheduled to meet today, Sunday, in an emergency session following U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to impose tariffs on their countries due to Greenland.

Cyprus, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU for six months, stated late Saturday that ambassadors of the countries have been summoned for an extraordinary meeting on Sunday afternoon to respond to the latest announcements from the United States.

Trump announced that the U.S. would impose an additional 10% tariff on imports from eight European countries starting February 1, citing disputes over Greenland. Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to own Greenland to ensure security in the Arctic region.

In a post on the "Truth Social" platform, Trump stated that the tariffs would apply to all U.S. imports from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland - and would increase to 25% starting in June if no agreement is reached to sell Greenland to the United States.

Greenland, which enjoys significant autonomy, is part of Denmark's territory, a NATO member. Greenland has stated that it does not wish to become part of the United States, while NATO allies say that the U.S. does not need to control the island to protect the Arctic. It is still unclear whether potential counter-measures will be discussed at Sunday's meeting.

The EU has a tool to defend itself against trade pressures, which is a regulation that applies in cases where a third country attempts to use trade measures to force the EU or a member state to make a particular decision.

This regulation allows for imposing counter-tariffs and other measures, although this tool is only used as a last resort.

The threatened tariffs affect countries that have recently sent soldiers on an exploratory mission to the polar island that is the center of the dispute.

Source: AP