Europe Draws Up €93 Billion Countermove After Trump’s Greenland Tariff Threats

Key Points

• The EU is preparing countermeasures worth up to €93 billion as Trump links Greenland pressure to new tariffs.
• Leaders want to deter coercion without breaking NATO, so they are pairing threats with calls for dialogue.
• A rarely used EU tool could target services and market access, raising stakes beyond goods trade.

European officials are drawing up a retaliation package worth as much as €93 billion after President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs tied to Greenland, pushing a territorial dispute into the heart of transatlantic trade.

The immediate spark is Trump’s warning of 10% tariffs from February 1 on imports from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland.

The threat follows a Danish-led military exercise in Greenland this week, joined by troops from several of those countries. For Europe, the message lands as a test of alliance discipline: accept pressure on a partner’s territory, or pay an economic price.

EU diplomats met in an emergency session on January 18 with the bloc’s 27 ambassadors. They revisited a tariff list drafted last year, then paused to avoid a broader trade war.

That list, according to officials briefed on the talks, is on hold until February 6. The goal is leverage ahead of high-level meetings rather than a rush to escalation.

The most sensitive option is the EU’s Anti-Coercion Instrument, adopted in 2023 and never used. It is designed for cases where economic threats aim to force political concessions.

Unlike classic tariffs, it can reach deeper into the relationship. It can limit investment, restrict access to public procurement, and target services. That matters because the U.S. sells vast digital and business services into Europe.

France has urged the EU to consider deploying the instrument, while others prefer lowering the temperature first. France and Germany have coordinated closely, and their finance ministers are scheduled to meet in Berlin on January 19.

The timing is deliberate. Trump is due in Davos on January 21 and 22, where he is expected to hold private conversations with European leaders. European officials say they want cooperation, not conflict, yet insist sovereignty is non-negotiable.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she discussed the situation with NATO’s secretary-general, Mark Rutte, and several leaders, and reaffirmed support for Greenland and Denmark.

European Council President António Costa said an extraordinary leaders’ meeting would follow in the coming days. Greenland’s importance is not symbolic. The island hosts the U.S. Pituffik Space Base and sits on key Arctic routes. It also holds mineral resources that feed modern industry.

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