US President Donald Trump said late on Wednesday that he would suspend tariffs on eight European countries that had been due to take effect on 1 February, pointing to progress in discussions with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte over Greenland at the Davos forum.
He said the talks produced what he called a framework for a future Greenland agreement that would benefit the United States as well as all NATO allies. Writing on Truth Social, Trump confirmed that, based on this understanding, the planned tariffs would not go ahead as scheduled.
It seems that the basis of the deal is that the US will establish more bases in Greenland that will be sovereign US territory.
The measures had included an initial 10% duty on imports from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands, with increases to 25% planned by June. Trump had previously insisted the tariffs would remain in place until European governments backed a US bid to acquire Greenland from Denmark.
He added that Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and other senior officials would lead negotiations and report directly to him. The decision followed Trump’s Davos speech in which he reiterated that Greenland was vital for US and global security, said NATO allies could agree to American control, and ruled out the use of force.
The tariff threat had already prompted emergency EU discussions on retaliation, highlighting what many see as the most serious rift between Washington and its European partners in decades.
Rutte and Trump in Davos
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