The rift between the U.S. and Europe over Greenland is deepening as European countries weigh retaliatory tariffs and broader economic countermeasures against the U.S.
Regional diplomats held an emergency meeting on Sunday in Brussels to discuss their response to President Donald Trump's threat to escalate tariffs unless a deal is reached for the U.S. to purchase Greenland.
France is pressing the EU to invoke its strongest economic countermeasure against the U.S., known as the Anti-Coercion Instrument, CNBC reported Monday.
Trump announced Saturday that the U.S. will impose 10% tariffs on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, and Finland starting Feb. 1.
The tariffs would rise to 25% on June 1 unless a purchase agreement for Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark, is reached.
The Anti-Coercion Instrument would let the European Union retaliate by restricting U.S. companies' access to EU markets, including barring them from bidding on government contracts, along with imposing trade restrictions and potential limits on U.S. investment.
The Financial Times reported that the EU is considering imposing $108 billion in tariffs on the U.S. through the Anti-Coercion Instrument.
Reuters reported that the European Parliament is likely to suspend its work on the EU-U.S. trade deal struck in July. The Parliament was set to vote Jan. 26-27 on removing many EU import duties on U.S. goods, but that approval could be delayed.
French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said Monday that the EU "must be prepared" to use its anti-coercion measure, according to CNBC.
Germany, however, is among the countries that have hesitated to invoke it.
"The key question to watch is whether the EU will try to keep the confrontation confined to such a more classic trade war, or whether calls for a harsher line prevail," Carsten Nickel, deputy director of research at the advisory company Teneo, told CNBC. "Representing the latter camp, France has called on its partners to formally invoke the EU's so-called Anti-Coercion Instrument ... [but] other EU member states, including Germany, will likely remain careful."
National security advisers from several countries were expected to meet Monday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, with Greenland among the topics on the agenda.
Trump is set to meet with global business leaders in Davos on Wednesday, when he is expected to deliver a special address.
Several top U.S. officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, are expected to accompany the president.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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