As U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out the tariff card against Europe along with ambitions to annex Greenland, the European Union (EU) is weighing the activation of its anti-coercion instrument (ACI) as a countermeasure.
On the 18th, local time, according to BBC and AFP and DPA, multiple Élysée Palace sources said French President Emmanuel Macron plans to formally push to trigger the ACI after contacting leaders of major European countries.
Macron is said to view Trump's threat as "unacceptable." Sources said he is not only coordinating a Europe-wide response, but also sees grounds to question the validity of the U.S.-EU trade deal reached in July last year.
The ACI, dubbed a "trade bazooka," is a measure that restricts trade such as services, foreign direct investment, financial markets, public procurement, and intellectual property (IP) with third countries that economically threaten the EU or its member states. A day earlier, Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament's trade committee, asked the European Commission to trigger the ACI. A vote to put a U.S. trade agreement to a vote on the 26th–27th of this month had been planned, but with calls to put it on hold over the Greenland issue, the prospects are rising that approval of the Greenland issue and the trade agreement in the European Parliament could become linked.
Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland's Minister for Commerce, Minerals, Energy, Justice and Gender Equality, also said in a statement that day, "We have learned of a U.S. plan to impose tariffs on countries that do not support selling Greenland to the United States," adding, "We are living in an unusual era that demands not only dignity but great courage." She continued, "We witnessed the initial reactions from the targeted countries and were surprised," and added, "We are grateful for diplomacy and alliances, and hope this prevails."
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil also said in a statement, "Germany will reach out to the United States to find a common solution, but we will not be blackmailed," adding, "There will be a European response." Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel also criticized it as "incomprehensible blackmail," and French Agriculture Minister Annick Genevard warned, "There will be much to lose from this escalation in tariff tensions (for President Trump as well)."
A day earlier, Trump said he would impose a 10% tariff on the United States from the 1st of next month and 25% from June 1 on countries that dispatched small contingents to Greenland. Europe is pushing back strongly, calling it "blackmail" of an ally and "good only for China and Russia."
Meanwhile, protests condemning Trump's attempt to annex Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, were held simultaneously across parts of Greenland and mainland Denmark. It was the first large-scale protest in Greenland since Trump openly revealed his ambitions to annex the island.
On the 17th, local time, according to the New York Times (NYT) and AFP and Reuters, thousands took to the streets with Greenlandic flags in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, at a protest attended by Prime Minister Jens Frederik Nielsen. Marching toward the U.S. Consulate, they shouted "Kalaallit Nunaat," the Greenlandic name for Greenland, and sang traditional songs of the Inuit, the indigenous people.
The demonstrators led by Prime Minister Nielsen marched with placards reading "Yankee go home," "No means no," and "Greenland is already great."
In Copenhagen, the Danish capital, thousands also gathered in the square in front of City Hall holding signs that read "Hands off Greenland" and waving Danish and Greenlandic flags. They, too, chanted slogans such as "Kalaallit Nunaat" and "Greenland is not for sale" as they marched to the U.S. Embassy.
Baseball caps twisting Trump's political slogan MAGA (Make America Great Again) into "Make America Go Away" and signs reading "America already has too much ICE" also appeared. ICE refers to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the phrase is interpreted as a simultaneous critique of ICE's much-criticized crackdown on undocumented immigrants and Trump's fixation on the icy land of Greenland.
In addition, rallies were held simultaneously in other Danish cities such as Aarhus, Aalborg and Odense.