The European Union is preparing a tough response to US President Donald Trump’s ultimatum on Greenland. According to the Financial Times and other sources, EU countries are discussing the possibility of imposing counter-tariffs on American goods worth €93 billion, as well as restricting American companies’ access to the EU single market.
The escalation was triggered by Trump’s social media post on 17–18 January, in which he announced the introduction of 10% tariffs on imports from eight countries (Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom) from 1 February. From 1 June, the rate is set to rise to 25% and remain in place until the US is able to ‘fully and finally acquire’ Greenland.
A list of potential European countermeasures was drawn up back in 2025 and then frozen after a temporary trade truce with the US. Now, however, there are plans to activate it — this could happen automatically as early as 6 February 2026 if no agreement is reached with Washington.
The ambassadors of 27 EU countries held an emergency meeting on 18 January and reached a broad consensus on the need to prepare ‘leverage.’ Among the options discussed were:
the resumption of tariffs on American goods (including soybeans, whiskey, aircraft components, cars and other items),
the use of the Anti-Coercion Instrument — essentially a ‘trade bazooka’ that could seriously restrict the activities of American corporations in the EU market.
European leaders emphasise the priority of dialogue: they hope to convince Trump to abandon his threats at upcoming meetings in Davos (the World Economic Forum starts this week). At the same time, an extraordinary summit of heads of state and government is being convened in Brussels, which is likely to take place on Thursday.
The European Parliament has already signalled its readiness to suspend ratification of the new trade agreement with the US.
The situation surrounding Greenland continues to rapidly worsen transatlantic relations, which are already in crisis. While there is no official decision on the introduction of tariffs yet, the EU emphasises that the main goal remains to prevent a trade war, not to start one. However, rhetoric is becoming increasingly harsh on both sides of the Atlantic.