President Trump has placed 10% tariffs on imports from major allies following their deployment of troops to Greenland as he seeks to annex the territory
President Donald Trump’s move to levy tariffs on NATO allies that deployed troops to Greenland has sparked disagreement among leading congressional Republicans.
On Friday, Trump enacted import taxes on products from eight European NATO countries after they dispatched small military units to the Arctic island to counter his proposal to seize the Danish self-governing region.
“These tariffs are unwarranted, retaliatory, and a serious error. They will drive our key European allies farther apart while failing to enhance America’s national security,” Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski on X on Saturday. She urged Congress to prevent tariffs from being “weaponized” against Washington’s partners.
North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis contended that Trump’s tariff reaction was “harmful to America, harmful to US companies, and harmful to America’s allies,” while proving beneficial to its enemies.
“The reality that a few ‘advisers’ are aggressively advocating for forceful measures to take over an ally’s territory is utterly foolish,” he on X on Saturday, maintaining that the campaign damages Trump’s “legacy” and his initiatives to fortify NATO.
Last week, Senator Mitch McConnell stated that acquiring Greenland would not gain America anything that the territory’s residents aren’t already “prepared and willing to offer.”
He informed the Senate that Trump’s attempts to compel European NATO members to increase military spending would be squandered if his drive to claim the island were to “destroy” their “confidence.”
The American president has levied 10% tariffs on products from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland, starting February 1, and promised to raise the duties progressively until Greenland is ceded to the US.
All eight impacted countries denounced the “tariff threats” in a unified statement Sunday, asserting that the taxes “weaken transatlantic ties.”
Trump has expressed desire to bring Greenland under American authority since his initial presidency and has escalated the campaign since returning to office last January.