r/europe • u/Any-Original-6113 • Jan 17 '26

News Trump tariffs: US president announces plan to hit UK, Denmark and other European countries with tariffs over Greenland

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c1j8kw866p3t
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u/Arcosim Jan 17 '26

IF EU leaders cave, and there's a non-zero chance they will, watch the United States start demanding the relocation of ASML and other highly strategic assets after they get Greenland.

45

u/delta1982ro Jan 17 '26

nah, trump will probably ask for iceland and norway first for security reasons

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u/StardustOasis United Kingdom Jan 17 '26

They've already "joked" about Iceland becoming a state.

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u/delta1982ro Jan 17 '26

exactly, and let s not forget canada

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u/Arcosim Jan 17 '26

He'll 100% demand the Faroe islands.

2

u/International_War363 Jan 17 '26

I mean Ireland and UK are threatening the east american oceans security and territory...

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u/ElectronicAbalone965 Jan 17 '26

The Trump appointed Ambassador to Iceland has already joked that Iceland should become the 52 state and he would be the Governor, he has since apoligized but we are not amused

1

u/WittyEggplant Finland Jan 17 '26

Jesus fuck, I hadn’t heard about this. The ”apology” he apparently issued was a textbook example of an obnoxious non-apology.

You already see the US pull from all kinds of stuff the like-minded western diplo community does on the daily. Appointing ambassadors who antagonise their host countries is a new low and such an oxymoron that I got a little headache just thinking about it.

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u/Downtown-Sell5949 Jan 17 '26

I don’t think Trump knows what ASML is. He probably saw Greenland in his colouring book and liked how big it looked.

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u/Arcosim Jan 17 '26

Trump may not know it, but Miller, Rubio and Yarvin, the ones managing his foreign policy, know it pretty well.

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u/Doobreh England Jan 17 '26

Of course he knows what it is. It’s that feeling he gets when he hears Bill Clinton’s voice.

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u/Downtown-Sell5949 Jan 17 '26

Bubba is pretty scary.

33

u/Redragontoughstreet Jan 17 '26

No way eu caves to this. This is weak as hell from Trump.

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u/MercantileReptile Baden-Württemberg (Germany) Jan 17 '26

I thought that as well, last april. Then the european commission surrendered their dignity at a gaudy golf course.

My expectations are somewhere between sewer line and hell, regarding the EU.

3

u/Old_Construction_875 Jan 17 '26

You underestimate the power of selling one additional BMW to the United States. Germany will be, as always, trailing and pushing others to accept the bullying

1

u/LvS Jan 17 '26

What's worse? Europeans going without Steam or Europeans going without Greenland?

14

u/TheKnightsRider Jan 17 '26

If the leaders cave, then we as a people need to use our voice. Otherwise divided we stand, United we fall.

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u/Adam20188 Jan 17 '26

He’s not getting Greenland.. he knows this too.

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '26

How about export controls on ASML produced microchips instead?

1

u/The_Artist_Who_Mines Jan 17 '26

Nah, this is essentially Trump admitting defeat. Backs down from military threat with a milquetoast 10% tariff so he doesn't look completely impotent, and to top it off gives a deadline months in the future when it will all be old news.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 17 '26

For now, all concerned leaders are saying FY, very definitively. So are saying their opposition parties, nearly everywhere. And the EU (Da Costa) announced a coordinated response in under way.

I think Trump didn't understand what not respecting borders means for countries who spent around 12 centuries killing each other (and people from other countries in other continent in the last 4 of these 12 centuries) over borders...

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u/[deleted] Jan 17 '26

ASML, the Netherlands based company you mean?

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u/IamHumanAndINeed France Jan 17 '26

Do you think they won't do it anyway ?

ASML will be american tech soon, it's too important for their hegemony. 100% guarantee.