Trump's Greenland tariffs: What you need to know

"Donald Trump appears increasingly set on taking Greenland. As the US president put it in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, this can be done "the easy way," by Denmark setting a price for its territory, or "the hard way," by which he is thought to mean adversarial tactics. With Greenland's people and politicians resisting the easy way, Trump has now turned his attention to threatening eight European nations who have sent troops or other representatives to the frozen island."

"A 10% import tariff on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland will be in place from February 1 until a "deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday. The US president added that, should the matter not be resolved by June 1, tariffs will increase to 25% for the affected countries, six of whom are European Union members and all of whom are in NATO."

"Trump slapped a 25% tariff on steel and aluminium, and later automobiles, from the EU last March, before the bloc responded with some damaging tariffs of their own. Trump then proposed a blanket 20% tariff in April before a series of u-turns and delays. The parties reached a deal in July that set a 15% tariff on most EU exports to the US, but negotiations are ongoing."

Donald Trump offered Denmark the choice to sell Greenland "the easy way" by setting a price or "the hard way" implying adversarial tactics. Greenland's people and politicians have resisted sale proposals, prompting threats directed at eight European countries with personnel on the island. The president announced a 10% import tariff on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland from February 1, rising to 25% if unresolved by June 1. Six of the affected countries are EU members and all are NATO members. The administration has repeatedly used tariffs as a negotiating tool, imposing steep duties on steel, aluminium and automobiles, and a July deal set a 15% tariff on most EU exports while related concessions remain unratified and EU members cannot make individual trade deals.

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