European leaders have hit back at U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to impose fresh tariffs on them if they oppose his attempt to buy Greenland, describing the ultimatum as “completely wrong” and “unacceptable.”
Trump announced on Saturday that eight European allies would face increasing tariffs, starting at 10% on Feb.1 and rising to 25% on June 1, if a deal is not reached so Washington can “buy” the Arctic territory, which is semi-autonomous and part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Eight NATO members’ goods sent to the U.S. will face escalating tariffs “until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland,” Trump stated on his social media platform Truth Social on Saturday.
The proposed tariffs would target Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the U.K, the Netherlands and Finland, Trump said.
European leaders were quick to react to the latest threat with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer commenting Saturday that “applying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of NATO allies is completely wrong,” while French President Emmanuel Macron described them as “unacceptable.”
