BRUSSELS — U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Greenland tariffs against eight European nations Monday unless they back his push for U.S. control of Greenland, prompting the European Union to prepare countermeasures worth as much as 93 billion euros (about $108 billion). Trump tied the dispute to allied military deployments and sovereignty arguments that European leaders say should not be settled through trade pressure, Jan. 19, 2026.
Trump said an additional 10% tariff would begin Feb. 1 on imports from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Britain, rising to 25% June 1 if no “Greenland deal” is reached. European officials, facing what they describe as coercion, are weighing both a suspended retaliation list and broader legal tools as Greenland tariffs threaten to spill into a wider trade fight.
EU envoys agreed to intensify diplomatic efforts while drafting a fallback package that could restart automatically in early February, alongside tougher options that could restrict U.S. access to parts of the European market, according to Reuters’ account of the EU’s retaliation planning. Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen underscored the political line hardening across the bloc, saying: “Europe will not be blackmailed.”
Greenland tariffs and Europe’s €93 billion playbook
At the center of the EU response is a 93 billion-euro tariff package aimed at U.S. goods — a list officials say could be reactivated after a six-month suspension — as well as the possibility of deploying the bloc’s Anti-Coercion Instrument. The measure, which entered into force in late 2023, gives Brussels a framework to respond to economic pressure with steps that can go beyond border duties, including limits tied to procurement, services and investment, according to the European Commission’s explainer on protecting against economic coercion.
EU leaders are expected to take up the Greenland tariffs dispute at an emergency summit later this week, with officials also watching for signals at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Trump is due to appear. The immediate question for European capitals is whether a tariff-for-tariff response deters escalation — or locks both sides into a cycle that is hard to unwind.
Markets signaled growing anxiety. European shares fell and volatility rose as investors weighed the threat of a new transatlantic trade rupture tied to Greenland tariffs, with losses concentrated in sectors exposed to global demand, according to Reuters reporting on the market reaction.
In Britain, Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the tariff threat “completely wrong” and warned that “a trade war is in no one’s interest,” while stressing support for Greenland and Denmark’s right to decide the territory’s future, according to The Associated Press report on Starmer’s response.
How Greenland tariffs echo earlier disputes
The latest confrontation draws on older fault lines. Trump’s interest in buying Greenland sparked a diplomatic flare-up in 2019 after Denmark rejected the idea; at the time, Frederiksen called it “an absurd discussion,” according to AP coverage of the 2019 Greenland dispute.
Europe’s “trade bazooka” was also built with past coercion disputes in mind. In 2023, EU lawmakers cleared the Anti-Coercion Instrument as a deterrent against countries using trade pressure to force policy changes, according to Reuters reporting on the 2023 vote.
And the 93 billion-euro retaliation list itself has recent precedent: EU countries approved a similarly sized set of counter-tariffs in 2025 as insurance during a separate tariff standoff with Washington, according to Reuters’ 2025 account of the EU’s counter-tariff approval.
For now, both sides are signaling resolve while leaving room for talks. But with tariff deadlines looming and politics entangled with sovereignty questions, Europe’s next steps on Greenland tariffs could determine whether the dispute stays contained — or becomes the opening act of a broader trade war.
