The European Union is preparing an emergency summit after President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs tied to U.S. plans involving Greenland.
The move has triggered swift backlash across Europe and raised the risk of a large trade confrontation between Washington and Brussels.
European Council President Antonio Costa said Sunday that EU leaders stand firmly behind Denmark, which governs Greenland. He announced the emergency meeting in a post on X.
Costa said the European Union is ready to respond to what it views as economic coercion from the Trump administration. He stressed that pressure on one member state will be treated as pressure on the entire bloc.
According to Reuters, EU officials are preparing retaliatory tariffs that were first drafted in August as trade tensions escalated.
The proposed countermeasures would target about one hundred seven point seven billion dollars worth of U.S. goods. The tariffs are scheduled to take effect automatically on February 6.
An EU diplomat told Reuters that the package is designed to send a clear message that the bloc will not accept trade threats tied to political demands.
Greenland has long drawn Trump’s attention due to its strategic position in the Arctic. The island offers access to critical minerals and a foothold in a region increasingly contested by Russia and China.
Trump has argued that the United States must acquire Greenland for national security reasons. He has repeated this claim while warning of new tariffs on countries that oppose the idea.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. No formal policy announcement has been released.
The tariff threat comes at a sensitive moment for the administration. Trump is awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on whether some tariffs imposed in 2024 were legally justified.
European leaders fear that a ruling against the administration could accelerate efforts to use tariffs as leverage in foreign policy disputes.
Denmark has rejected any suggestion of selling Greenland. European officials say sovereignty and international law are not negotiable.
The emergency summit is expected to focus on unity, legal options, and economic defenses. EU leaders want to avoid escalation but say they are prepared for a trade fight if necessary.
As reported by The New York Times, transatlantic trade tensions are now among the most serious since Trump’s earlier tariff battles with Europe.
For now, both sides are bracing for what could become a defining economic and diplomatic clash in Trump’s second term.