USA Trump: No tariffs against Europeans from February 1 after all
US President Donald Trump does not intend to carry out his threat of punitive tariffs against Germany and other European countries on February 1 after all. In his post on the Truth Social platform, Trump explained that a framework for a future agreement on Greenland and the entire Arctic region had been created based on a meeting with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte. It remained unclear what exactly this alleged agreement would contain.
21.01.2026, 20:59
SDA
Trump emphasized that this solution, if implemented, would be of great benefit to the USA and all NATO members. "On the basis of this agreement, I will not impose the tariffs that were to come into force on February 1st."
Trump wants to force a sale of Greenland from Denmark to the USA. Denmark is opposing this.
Trump announced that further talks on the "Golden Dome" were underway. He had already emphasized several times that Greenland was fundamental to the development of the planned missile defence system. US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and others would conduct the negotiations on behalf of the USA. Trump left the details of the negotiations open.
On Saturday, in an unprecedented move, the US President threatened tariffs against Germany and seven other European states - all of them NATO countries that have expressed opposition to Trump's claims to ownership of the Arctic island - citing the Greenland conflict.
Trump originally wanted to impose tariffs of 10 percent from February 1 and 25 percent from June 1 - on all goods sent to the USA. Currently, most EU exports to America have been subject to a 15 percent tariff since the summer.
A special EU summit is planned for Thursday to discuss how to deal with Trump's tariff threat. This is still to take place, said a spokesperson for Council President António Costa.
