Brussels: The European Union is considering retaliatory measures, including up to €93 billion ($107.68 billion) in tariffs or restricting US companies’ access to the bloc’s market, in response to President Donald Trump’s tariff threats linked to Greenland, the Financial Times reported.
Citing officials involved in the preparations, the Financial Times said the retaliatory measures are being drafted to give European leaders leverage ahead of pivotal meetings with Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos the following week.
The report said the EU had drawn up the tariff list since last year but kept it suspended until February 6 to avert a trade war. However, amid the escalation of the transatlantic rift over Greenland, representatives of EU members discussed reactivating it on Sunday, alongside talks about using the Anti-Coercion Instrument, which could curb US firms’ access to the bloc’s market, Xinhua news agency reported.
The report came after the eight countries directly targeted by the US proposed tariffs — Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom — issued a joint statement on Sunday declaring “full solidarity” with Denmark and Greenland.
In a social media post on Saturday, Trump said the United States would levy a 10-per cent tariff from February 1 on goods from the mentioned eight countries. He warned the rate would rise to 25 per cent on June 1 and remain in place until a deal is reached for the “complete and total purchase” of Greenland.
Trump, due to attend the World Economic Forum on Wednesday and Thursday, is expected to hold private talks with European leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and to join a meeting of Western countries backing Ukraine. (1 euro = $1.16).
More International News on www.mediaeyeenews.com
Photo: IANS
–IANS
