Extract from ABC News
US President Donald Trump posted about tariffs on eight European countries on Truth Social. (AP: Nathan Howard)
In short:
US President Donald Trump says he will charge a 10 per cent import tax starting in February on goods from eight European nations because of their opposition to American control of Greenland.
Mr Trump says Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland would face the tariff.
What's next?
The tariffs would increase to 25 per cent on June 1 and would continue until a deal was reached for the US to purchase Greenland.
US President Donald Trump is vowing to implement tariffs on European allies until the United States is allowed to buy Greenland, escalating a row over the future of Denmark's vast Arctic island.
In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump said additional 10 per cent import tariffs would take effect on February 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Great Britain.
All of these nations are already subject to tariffs imposed by Mr Trump.
Those tariffs would increase to 25 per cent on June 1 and would continue until a deal was reached for the US to purchase Greenland, Mr Trump wrote.
The president has repeatedly said Greenland is vital to US security because of its strategic location and large mineral deposits, and has not ruled out using force to take it.
European nations send military personnel to Greenland
European nations this week sent military personnel to the island at Denmark's request.
"These Countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable," Mr Trump wrote.
"The United States of America is immediately open to negotiation with Denmark and/or any of these Countries that have put so much at risk, despite all that we have done for them, including maximum protection, over so many decades."
Protesters in Denmark and Greenland demonstrated on Saturday against Mr Trump's demands and called for the territory to be left to determine its own future.
The countries named by Mr Trump on Saturday have backed Denmark, warning that the US military seizure of a territory in NATO could collapse the military alliance that Washington leads.
World leaders react
After the US president's social media post, Norway's top diplomat reiterated support for Denmark and said tariffs should not be part of Greenland discussions.
Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said there was a "broad agreement within NATO" on the requirement to strengthen security in the Arctic.
"We do not think the question of tariffs belongs in this context," he said.
A Greenlandic official says "children are scared" amid the growing threat of a US takeover. (Foreign Correspondent: Greg Nelson ACS)
France's President Emmanuel Macron said the threat was unacceptable and that if they were confirmed, Europe would respond in a coordinated manner.
"No intimidation nor threat will influence us, neither in Ukraine, nor in Greenland, nor anywhere else in the world when we are confronted with such situations," Macron said on X.
Trade deals under threat?
Saturday's threat could derail tentative deals Mr Trump struck last year with the European Union and Great Britain.
The deals included baseline levies of 15 per cent on imports from Europe and 10 per cent on most British goods.
Tariffs have become the US president's weapon of choice in seeking to compel American adversaries and allies alike to meet his strategic and economic demands.
Mr Trump said this week he would put 25 per cent tariffs on any country trading with Iran as that country suppressed anti-government protests.
The US Supreme Court has heard arguments on the legality of Mr Trump's sweeping tariffs, and any decision by the top US judicial body would have major implications on the global economy.
Citing threats from Russia and China, Mr Trump has repeatedly insisted he will settle for nothing less than ownership of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.
Greenland leaders: 'Island not for sale'
Leaders of both Denmark and Greenland have insisted the island is not for sale and does not want to be part of the United States.
Danish and other European officials have pointed out that as Greenland is part of NATO, it is already covered by the alliance's Article 5 collective security pact.
The US already has a military base, Pituffik Space Base, in Greenland, with about 200 troops, and can deploy as many more forces as it wants under a 1951 agreement.
That has led many European officials to conclude that Mr Trump is motivated more by a desire to expand US territory than security concerns.
Reuters
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