On Saturday, President Trump announced an extra 10% tariff on Germany, France, the UK, Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark as of 1 February until a deal on Greenland is reached. The tariffs would be increased to 25% by 1 June, if no deal is reached by then. As has been the case before, it is not exactly clear how this will work out as there has been no official communication from the White House, yet, just Trump’s announcement on social media.
This marks the latest escalation in what has become one of the most critical sources of tension between two allies: the US and the EU. President Trump has repeatedly ramped up his claims on Greenland. In his social media post, Trump stressed that he wanted a deal “for the complete and total purchase of Greenland” and criticised the eight European countries now subject to tariffs for putting “so much at risk, despite all that we have done for them”.
The new tariff announcement effectively reopens the trade war between the EU and the US, despite a temporary truce reached in late July. This next phase brings higher stakes and a far tougher approach and serves as a painful reminder, not only of how the relationship between the US and Europe has changed, but also that tariffs have become a multi-purpose policy tool. The rationale for higher tariffs is now even more political and less economic than in the first half of 2025.