“President Donald Trump said Saturday that he would charge a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight European nations because of their opposition to American control of Greenland,” reports NPR.
Trump’s demand for Greenland is a breach of America’s century-old treaty with Denmark. In that treaty, America explicitly agreed to Danish control over Greenland in exchange for Denmark selling the Virgin Islands to the United States. Pressuring Denmark to give the U.S. Greenland is an act of aggression against America’s NATO ally, Denmark, showing a lack of respect for its territorial integrity. Greenland has been part of Denmark for centuries. Denmark is America’s friend: 43 Danish soldiers died fighting on America’s side in Afghanistan.
NPR reports that
Trump said in a social media post that Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland would face the tariff and that it would climb to 25% on June 1 if a deal is not in place for “the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland” by the United States.
The threat of tariffs was a drastic and potentially dangerous escalation of a showdown between Trump and NATO allies, further straining an alliance that dates to 1949 and provides a collective degree of security to Europe and North America.
Greenland is a costly white elephant that costs Denmark far more to maintain than it gets from Greenland in tax revenue. The U.S. closed most of its bases on Greenland over the years because a U.S. presence on most of Greenland is so unnecessary. Denmark let the U.S. put bases wherever it wanted, but after the end of the Cold War, the U.S. realized it didn’t need most of its bases anymore.
Most Americans do not want the U.S. to acquire Greenland. And 85% of Greenlanders oppose becoming part of the United States.
Running Greenland costs money. Denmark recently helped finance three new airports in Greenland costing $800 million. It has spent billions and billions of dollars on Greenland, for little in return. Greenland is too cold and remote to profitably mine most of its minerals (although Greenland welcomes U.S. investment and Australians and others are involved in Greenland’s mining sector).
Greenland is mostly covered by ice and has fewer than 57,000 people. Most of Greenland is uninhabitable because it is covered by a massive ice sheet.
Europe could retaliate with tariffs of its own, in response to Trump’s tariffs. Trump’s tariffs on Europe could provoke a destructive trade war that wipes out many American jobs.
After Trump imposed his “Liberation Day” tariffs, America’s manufacturing sector shrank, as tariffs increased the cost of imported raw materials used by American manufacturers, such as aluminum and steel.
In December, the U.S. factory sector shrank for the 10th straight month. Economists say tariffs on aluminum and steel wipe out more U.S. jobs than they save, by increasing the costs of manufacturers who make things out of aluminum and steel.
