President Donald Trump called off tariffs on U.S. allies opposed to his plans to annex Greenland after announcing a tentative deal with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte for a future deal on Greenland.
Trump said he won’t impose tariffs over the issue after meeting with Rutte at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday.
“We have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations.”
Trump said talks are underway about including the 800,000-square-mile Arctic island under the president’s planned “Golden Dome” missile defense system.
Over the weekend, Trump warned that NATO allies who oppose his plans to acquire Greenland will face escalating tariffs: a 10% duty on all exports to the U.S. from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland beginning Feb. 1, rising to 25% by June 1. Trump has said the tariffs will remain in effect until Denmark hands over Greenland.
European nations balked at the prospect of tariffs.
Trump maintains that U.S. ownership of Greenland is crucial to national security. He argues that Denmark cannot protect the island’s mineral-rich territory from major powers such as China and Russia.
Public polling shows Greenlanders overwhelmingly oppose joining America.
Experts say as ice melts in the Arctic, more shipping and military ship routes could open in the region, changing the global trade and the defensive relationship between the U.S. and Russia. More mining and drilling exploration could also open up.
Buying the nation could cost U.S. taxpayers billions or trillions, depending on how the Arctic island is valued.
Greenland is almost entirely reliant on fishing and Danish subsidies of about $1 billion a year. Earlier this month, Denmark’s central bank found Greenland faces “challenges for public finances in the form of large deficits and a long-term sustainability problem.”
In 1867, when President Andrew Johnson bought Alaska, he also considered buying Greenland. The U.S. also tried to buy Greenland in 1946. The United States proposed paying Denmark $100 million in gold to purchase Greenland.
