\n<\/p>\n
France\u2019s Emmanuel Macron has called for the EU to activate its most potent trade weapon against the US after President Donald Trump threatened to hit several European countries with extra tariffs in response to the dispute over Greenland.<\/p>\n
Trump on Saturday said the US would apply an additional 10 per cent levy on goods from France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland from February 1, marking an abrupt escalation in tensions between the US and its allies over Trump\u2019s ambitions to own Greenland. The tariffs would rise to 25 per cent in June if no resolution was found, Trump said in a Truth Social post.<\/p>\n
His outburst is the deepest rift among Nato allies since the alliance\u2019s foundation and has prompted angry reactions from European leaders and business executives who have previously been more measured for fear of losing US support for Ukraine.<\/p>\n
An \u00c9lys\u00e9e official said on Sunday that the French president would request that the EU activates its so-called anti-coercion instrument that can restrict access to the single market for American companies.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe will be in contact throughout the day with his European counterparts and will request, on France\u2019s behalf, the activation of the anti-coercion instrument,\u201d said an \u00c9lys\u00e9e official.<\/p>\n
Emmanuel Macron meets Donald Trump at the White House in February 2025<\/span> \u00a9 Jim Watson\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n First adopted in 2023, the tool has never been used but allows the EU to respond to instances of \u201ceconomic coercion\u201d by other countries \u2014 such as punitive tariffs \u2014 with its own retaliatory measures.<\/p>\n Several other leaders and business executives echoed Macron\u2019s sentiments, although a senior EU diplomat said that many were still hesitant to activate the instrument.<\/p>\n EU ambassadors are set to meet on Sunday afternoon in Brussels to discuss next steps. <\/p>\n Trump\u2019s remarks came after European nations sent small numbers of troops to Greenland for a military exercise. Danish Arctic Command said there were more than 200 extra Nato troops in Greenland on Sunday.<\/p>\n In a joint statement Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK said the military exercise \u201cposes no threat to anyone\u201d and \u201cwe stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cTariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral,\u201d they said. \u201cWe will continue to stand united and co-ordinated in our response. We are committed to upholding our sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n The EU has yet to ratify a trade deal it agreed with the US last summer that would hold tariffs at 15 per cent. Lawmakers in the European parliament said they would delay approval because of the Greenland threat.<\/p>\n One option being discussed in Brussels is hitting the US with levies on \u20ac93bn of its exports,\u00a0according to two people familiar with the situation. <\/p>\n The retaliatory package was put on hold in August after the two sides signed the trade deal. But its six-month suspension is due to expire on February 7 unless the European Commission extends it. These tariffs include US cigarettes, clothing and food.<\/p>\n Germany\u2019s vice-chancellor and finance minister Lars Klingbeil said that \u201ca line had been crossed\u201d, adding that the affected nations \u201cmust not allow ourselves to be blackmailed\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThere will be a European response to this threat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is unacceptable to hit countries that are now taking more responsibility for our common security in Nato,\u201d said Troels Lund Poulsen, Denmark\u2019s defence minister, who will meet Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte on Monday. <\/p>\n Lars L\u00f8kke Rasmussen, Denmark\u2019s foreign minister, said that the tariff move was \u201csurprising\u201d because he had a \u201cconstructive dialogue\u201d with vice-president JD Vance on Wednesday. He added: \u201cIt is paradoxical because what makes the president react is that we are doing what we are criticised for not doing: namely taking care of the Arctic.\u201d<\/p>\n Alexander Stubb, president of Finland, who is known to have a good personal relationship with Trump, said that \u201ctariffs would undermine the transatlantic relationship\u201d. The Swedish and Norwegian premiers Ulf Kristersson and Jonas Gahr St\u00f8re also warned that Europe \u201cwill not allow ourselves to be blackmailed\u201d.<\/p>\n EU trade commissioner Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d told the German news outlet DW on Sunday that the implementation of the US-EU trade deal would be \u201cvery complicated\u201d in light of Trump\u2019s threats.<\/p>\n Bertram Kawlath, president of the German machine makers\u2019 association the VDMA, said the European parliament \u201ccannot possibly\u201d go ahead with ratifying the US-EU trade deal. He also called for Brussels to consider use of the anti-coercion mechanism, despite the machine-parts industry suffering from tariffs already in place.<\/p>\n Hildegard M\u00fcller, president of the German carmakers lobby the VDA, said that the cost of the additional tariffs would be \u201cenormous for German and European industry \u2014 in already challenging times\u201d, adding: \u201cHasty decisions lead to escalation and a potential spiral that only produces losers.\u201d<\/p>\n People hold Greenland flags during a march in Nuuk to protest against Trump\u2019s threats<\/span> \u00a9 Sean Gallup\/Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n The increasing strains in the transatlantic relationship have heaped pressure on Italian premier Giorgia Meloni, who has forged a close bond with Trump and acted as a conduit with the White House.<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters in Seoul, Meloni said she had spoken to Trump and Rutte on Sunday morning to try to defuse tensions. <\/p>\n Trump\u2019s announcement was \u201caccording to me, a mistake\u201d, she said. \u201cIt\u2019s very important at this stage to talk to each other and avoid an escalation.\u201d <\/p>\n Italy will not be hit directly by the tariffs as it did not join the military mission. But the Italian economy will suffer from tariffs on Germany, one of its largest trading partners, to which it sends many intermediate goods used in German exports.<\/p>\n Recommended<\/p>\n Meloni said the White House may have misunderstood the military exercise and not realised that it was directed against powers such as Russia and China.<\/p>\n \u201cThis could have been a problem of comprehension and communication, which is why I continue to insist on the role of Nato as the forum in which we should try to look to organise instruments of deterrence,\u201d Meloni said.<\/p>\n Only one country that sent military personnel was not included in Trump\u2019s threats. Belgium was not targeted although it will send one military officer to Greenland.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Nato members decided on an operation in Greenland, it is precisely to demonstrate that we are all preoccupied about Arctic security,\u201d Belgian foreign minister Maxime Pr\u00e9vot wrote on X. <\/p>\n Additional reporting by Laura Pitel in Berlin and Henry Foy, Andrew Bounds and Laura Dubois in Brussels<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" France\u2019s Emmanuel Macron has called for the EU to activate its most potent trade weapon against the US after President Donald Trump threatened to hit several European countries with extra tariffs in response to the dispute over Greenland. Trump on Saturday said the US would apply an additional 10 per cent levy on goods from<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[2918,6919,19541,2485,1162,430,81,3213,2449],"class_list":{"0":"post-42031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-france","9":"tag-greenland","10":"tag-potent","11":"tag-response","12":"tag-threat","13":"tag-trade","14":"tag-trump","15":"tag-urges","16":"tag-weapon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}