MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
President Trump is set to travel to Davos, Switzerland, this week for the World Economic Forum. That's where heads of state and business executives schmooze and make deals. This year, it's happening as U.S. relations with Europe are at a low point because of President Trump's threats to take Greenland and punish any nation that resists with higher tariffs. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley is following all this, and she's with us now to tell us more. Good morning, Eleanor.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So how is President Trump's continued calls to take Greenland - how are these calls affecting Davos?
BEARDSLEY: Well, you know, Michel, it casts a huge shadow over Davos. The standoff between the EU and the U.S. over Greenland escalated even more over the weekend. Eight nations showing their solidarity with Greenland and Denmark held a military exercise on the mineral-rich Arctic island. Trump responded by threatening those particular nations - and it was France, Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and Denmark - those are big players - with an extra 10% tariff to go into effect February 1, if they continued to try to block his Greenland plans. And this is on top of the 15% already in place for the EU in general. In response, EU ambassadors met in Brussels and issued a rare joint statement reaffirming their solidarity with Denmark and the people of Greenland, saying tariffs only undermine transatlantic relations, and they warned there is a risk of a dangerous downward spiral. I spoke with Celia Belin, who heads the Paris Office of the European Council on Foreign Relations. She summed up the Europeans' mood like this.
CELIA BELIN: The feeling at the moment is twofold. You have a feeling of panic. Is he really going to do this? But the other element, I think, of how Europeans are going to feel is a sense of determination. This is going too far. There is no way they're going to accept this.
MARTIN: Or - but what can Europe actually do?
BEARDSLEY: Well, they have some options, Michel. One is to delay the transatlantic trade deal that was negotiated last summer. It's only partially in place. It was to be ratified by the European Parliament by February. There are no tariffs on U.S. products in this treaty, but there's talk about blocking it and slapping some tariffs on American products like food, clothing, alcohol. You know, Europeans have been grinning and bearing a lot of humiliations from the Trump administration because they want to keep the U.S. onboard with ending Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. But Europeans are angry. Trump's actions are seen as blackmail, and the U.S. is treating them like an adversary, so they want to use the economic power of their massive 450-million-person single market to strike back.
And French President Emmanuel Macron will be pushing to activate the EU's anti-coercion instrument. It's also known as the bazooka. It was first adopted in 2023. It's never been used, but it allows the EU to take action against perceived economic coercion by a third party with its own retaliatory measures. This means the EU could restrict American companies, you know, to its huge market. Note that this measure was originally derived to be used against China, not the EU's greatest ally.
MARTIN: You know what? Speaking of China, President Trump has said that if the U.S. doesn't take Greenland, China or Russia will. What do Europeans say about that claim?
BEARDSLEY: Well, experts on the Arctic and Greenland say there is no imminent threat from that. But Europeans admit the mineral-rich island could have more protection. But, Michel, there's a Cold War treaty in place for that between the U.S. and Denmark, is still in force. The Europeans welcome more troops. There were some 10,000 American soldiers there during the 1980s. European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas put it this way. She said, Greenland should be dealt with inside NATO. Tariffs weaken our joint prosperity. And writing about the allies' divisions on X, she said, quote, "China and Russia must be having a field day."
MARTIN: That is NPR's Eleanor Beardsley. Eleanor, thank you.
BEARDSLEY: Thank you, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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