European countries are weighing plans to ramp up their own tariffs against the U.S. in a trade “bazooka” to counteract pressure from President Donald Trump on Monday.
Germany’s finance minister, Lars Klingbeil, teased the action Monday while speaking alongside his French counterpart in Berlin. French President Emmanuel Macron also urged the European Union to activate its Anti-Coercion Instrument on Monday, nicknamed the trade “bazooka.”
“There is a legally established European toolbox for responding to economic blackmail with very sensitive measures. And we should now consider using these measures,” Klingbeil said.
“Everything must be prepared now,” he added. “We are ready to find solutions. We are extending our hand, but we are not prepared to be blackmailed.”
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“We are constantly experiencing new provocations. We are constantly experiencing new antagonism, which President Trump is seeking. And here we Europeans must make it clear that the limit has been reached,” Klingbeil continued.
More than half a dozen European countries warned in a joint statement on Sunday that tariff threats over Greenland undermine transatlantic relations as the White House seeks to pressure allies into a deal to acquire the Arctic island.
Trump threatened on his Truth Social platform to impose a 10% tariff on the eight European countries unless a deal is reached for what he called the “complete and total purchase of Greenland.”
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The countries include Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Trump said the 10% tariff would go into effect on Feb. 2 and could rise to 25% on June 1.
Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned Trump’s post Saturday on social media.
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Kristersson wrote on X that allies would not be “blackmailed.”
“Only Denmark and Greenland decide on issues concerning Denmark and Greenland,” he said, adding that other European Union (EU) countries were discussing a coordinated response.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, also voiced concern over Trump’s remarks, warning that Russia and China were “having a field day” and stood to benefit from divisions within NATO.
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“If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO. Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity,” she said. “We also cannot let our dispute distract us from our core task of helping to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.
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