Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
European lawmakers on Wednesday moved to suspend a recently agreed trade deal with the United States, escalating a transatlantic dispute triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed push to acquire Greenland and his threat to impose sweeping tariffs on European countries.
The decision was announced shortly after Trump reiterated his call for U.S. ownership of Greenland during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. His remarks followed days of mounting tension after Washington threatened new tariffs on a group of European Union member states and the United Kingdom, citing resistance to U.S. ambitions regarding the Arctic territory.
Greenland is a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, which is an EU member state. European leaders have firmly rejected Trump’s statements, framing them as a challenge to European sovereignty and international norms. Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) said the U.S. position had made it impossible to proceed as normal with trade ratification.
“We hold an unshakable commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Denmark and Greenland,” said Bernd Lange, chair of INTA and the European Parliament’s lead voice on EU-U.S. trade relations. He warned that linking tariff threats to territorial demands undermines trust between the two sides. “By threatening the territorial integrity and sovereignty of an EU member state and by using tariffs as a coercive instrument, the United States is undermining the stability and predictability of EU-U.S. trade relations,” Lange said.
The trade agreement in question was reached in July, with both sides agreeing to roll back certain tariffs and stabilize commercial ties after years of friction. At the time, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the deal as one that “creates certainty in uncertain times.” That certainty now appears in doubt.
Lange said the European Union would pause the ratification process in response to Trump’s proposed tariff measures. Under the U.S. plan, eight European countries—including Denmark, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, would face tariffs of 10 percent starting February 1, rising sharply to 25 percent by June 1.
In his Davos speech, Trump insisted that the United States would not use military force in pursuit of Greenland, but his comments nonetheless raised alarm. “We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force, where we would be, frankly, unstoppable. But I won’t do that,” he said, remarks that were widely interpreted in Europe as inflammatory despite the disclaimer.
The dispute has already rattled financial markets. U.S. stocks fell sharply on Tuesday following the tariff announcement, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down 870 points before recovering about half of those losses in early trading on Wednesday. European markets were more muted, though the STOXX 600 index edged lower amid the uncertainty.
Analysts say the standoff risks reopening a period of transatlantic trade instability just as both sides are grappling with slowing growth, geopolitical tensions, and fragile supply chains. For European officials, the suspension of the trade deal is intended as a signal that economic pressure tied to sovereignty issues will not be accepted.
Unless tensions ease, the episode could mark a new low point in EU-U.S. relations, with the Greenland dispute spilling beyond diplomacy into trade, markets, and the broader political relationship between Washington and its European allies.
