{"id":291151,"date":"2026-01-18T17:27:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T17:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/291151\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T17:27:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T17:27:07","slug":"european-countries-threatened-by-tariffs-warn-of-downward-spiral-in-us-relations-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/291151\/","title":{"rendered":"European countries threatened by tariffs warn of \u2018downward spiral\u2019 in US relations \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The governments of the eight European<\/a> countries threatened with US tariffs<\/a> have criticised comments coming from Washington as a breach in Europe-US relations and warned of a \u201cdownward spiral\u201d. <\/p>\n

In a joint statement on Sunday, France, Germany, the UK, Denmark<\/a>, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, reemphasised their united stance on Greenland<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cTariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. We will continue to stand united and coordinated in our response. We are committed to upholding our sovereignty,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

It was prompted by US president Donald Trump<\/a>\u2018s threat of a wave of increasing tariffs on European allies until the US was allowed to acquire Greenland<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The involvement of troops from several European countries in a Danish military exercise in the Arctic was \u201cpre-coordinated\u201d, the European governments noted, and posed no threat to anyone. <\/p>\n

They reaffirmed their firm stance behind the principles of \u201csovereignty and territorial integrity\u201d in the Greenland dispute. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s statement came as ambassadors from the European Union<\/a>\u2019s 27 countries were preparing to convene for an emergency meeting. <\/p>\n

Cyprus<\/a>, which holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, said late on Saturday that it had called the meeting, which EU diplomats said was set to start at 4pm GMT.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0European leaders may soon drop the don\u2019t-upset-the-toddler approach to Trump relationsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Earlier, European leaders united in condemnation of Mr Trump\u2019s plan to apply tariffs on several Nato<\/a> allies.<\/p>\n

British prime minister Keir Starmer<\/a> described Mr Trump\u2019s decision as \u201ccompletely wrong\u201d and said he would be \u201cpursuing this directly\u201d with the US administration.<\/p>\n

The US president said the UK will be charged a 10 per cent tariff \u201con any and all goods\u201d sent to the US from February 1st, increased to 25 per cent from June 1st, until a deal is reached for Washington to purchase Greenland from Denmark<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He said the same would apply to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland and that they had \u201cjourneyed to Greenland, for purposes unknown\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Starmer said: \u201cOur position on Greenland is very clear \u2013 it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark and its future is a matter for the Greenlanders and the Danes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have also made clear that Arctic security matters for the whole of Nato and allies should all do more together to address the threat from Russia<\/a> across different parts of the Arctic.<\/p>\n

\u201cApplying tariffs on allies for pursuing the collective security of Nato allies is completely wrong. We will of course be pursuing this directly with the US administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Washington has been ratcheting up pressure over its plans for Greenland, US reports suggest the countries were given no notice of what was coming.<\/p>\n

Sweden\u2019s prime minister Ulf Kristersson<\/a> said his country was having \u201cintensive discussions\u201d with the other European countries to decide on a co-ordinated response, while French president Emmanuel Macron<\/a> said he would hold talks with European partners.<\/p>\n

In \u200da newspaper interview published on Sunday, Spanish prime minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez said any military action by the US against Denmark\u2019s \u200dvast Arctic island would damage Nato and legitimise the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we focus on Greenland, I have to say that a US invasion \u200cof that territory would make Vladimir Putin the happiest man in the world. \u2060Why? Because it would legitimise his attempted invasion of Ukraine,\u201d \u200che \u200bsaid \u200din an interview in La Vanguardia newspaper.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Denmark and Greenland united in mass protests against Trump annexation threatsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the United States were to use force, it would be the death knell for Nato. Putin would be \u2060doubly happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the UK confirmed it had sent a military officer to Greenland as Denmark stepped up its military presence in the Arctic and High North.<\/p>\n

Downing Street said they were sent at Denmark\u2019s request to join a reconnaissance group in advance of a planned Arctic endurance exercise, but denied it amounted to a \u201cdeployment\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, Mr Trump said: \u201cThese Countries, who are playing this very dangerous game, have put a level of risk in play that is not tenable or sustainable.<\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, it is imperative that, in order to protect Global Peace and Security, strong measures be taken so that this potentially perilous situation end quickly, and without question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Trump said the US was \u201cimmediately 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\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"CrowdsCrowds gather to protest against Donald Trump and his proposal to take over, in Nuuk, Greenland, on Saturday. Photograph: Juliette Pavy\/New York Times <\/p>\n

He said it was \u201ctime for Denmark to give back\u201d, adding: \u201cChina and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

EU leaders said the Danish exercise \u201cposes no threat to anyone\u201d and warned tariffs would risk a \u201cdangerous downward spiral\u201d in transatlantic relations.<\/p>\n

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa said: \u201cThe pre-co-ordinated Danish exercise, conducted with allies, responds to the need to strengthen Arctic security and poses no threat to anyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe EU stands in full solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland. Dialogue remains essential, and we are committed to building on the process begun already last week between the Kingdom of Denmark and the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cTariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, co-ordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Macron said he would not bow to \u201cintimidation\u201d, while Mr Kristersson insisted \u201cwe will not let ourselves be blackmailed\u201d and Finland\u2019s prime minister Petteri Orpo said tariffs would be in \u201cno-one\u2019s interest\u201d.<\/p>\n

Norway\u2019s prime minister Jonas Gahr St\u00f8re wrote on social media: \u201cThreats have no place among allies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The EU\u2019s foreign policy chief said tariffs could make the US and EU poorer and boost China and Russia. Former Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas said on social media: \u201cChina and Russia must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among Allies.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018I\u2019ve not felt so insecure before\u2019: Greenlanders prepare for crisis amid a lack of official adviceOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Greenland\u2019s security is at risk, we can address this inside Nato. Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hundreds of people in Greenland\u2019s capital Nuuk attended a rally on Saturday in support of self-governance. Thousands also took part in rallies across Denmark on Saturday opposing any US takeover of Greenland.<\/p>\n

Since the US began openly discussing the annexation of Greenland at the start of 2026, the UK has stepped up discussions on Arctic security with Sir Keir raising the issue in calls with Mr Trump, the Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen and Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte. \u2013 PA\/Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The governments of the eight European countries threatened with US tariffs have criticised comments coming from Washington as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291152,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,36977,382,356,6586,4893,13,14,17768,6,5446,11,12,15,16,5,4897,81065,550,7,8,107,1411,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-291151","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-cyprus","11":"tag-denmark","12":"tag-donald-trump","13":"tag-emmanuel-macron","14":"tag-eu","15":"tag-featured-news","16":"tag-featurednews","17":"tag-greenland","18":"tag-headlines","19":"tag-keir-starmer","20":"tag-latest-news","21":"tag-latestnews","22":"tag-main-news","23":"tag-mainnews","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-north-atlantic-treaty-organisation-nato","26":"tag-pedro-sanchez","27":"tag-russia","28":"tag-top-stories","29":"tag-topstories","30":"tag-us","31":"tag-us-tariffs","32":"tag-world","33":"tag-world-news","34":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115917281216822197","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}