Trump rows back from tariff threat after scathing Davos speech
Donald Trump has rowed back from a radical plan to apply tariffs on European countries objecting to his demands to annex Greenland, just hours after launching a scathing attack on the continent’s leaders during a historic address at Davos.
In a post on his social media app, the President revealed he had reached a “framework of a future deal” regarding the Danish territory in the wake of a “very productive” meeting with Nato secretary general Mark Rutte.
“Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st,” he added.
The remarks were the first sign of thawing tensions between the US and Europe, after a week of escalating salvos that has seen the relationship between the allies reach its most fraught in modern history.
They also signified a major departure from rhetoric Trump had adopted earlier that day, during his eagerly anticipated speech at the World Economic Forum.
In a wide-ranging address, the President doubled down on his demand to take control of Greenland from Denmark and issued a volley of barbs aimed at the continent’s political leaders.
The US President lashed out at Nato in a speech lasting more than an hour, and insisted his demands would not hurt the military alliance. “We give so much and get so little in return,” he said.
Trump’s tariff volte-face came after markets in Europe had closed. But equities on America’s blue-chip index climbed as as much as 1.4 per cent, as fears of a trade war between the US and Europe dissipated. European stocks had been falling through much of Wednesday, but the FTSE 100 closed the day up after Trump confirmed in his address that he would not use force to take Greenland.
In the immediate aftermath of the speech, the European parliament announced it would press ahead with the suspension of a US trade deal that had been agreed in July. The deal would not be ratified “until the US decides to re-engage on a path of cooperation rather than confrontation,” Bernd Lange, chair of the European parliament’s international trade committee, said.
The President wrote in his social media post that negotiations would centre around the fate of the so-called Golden Dome missile defence system, a key point of contention in the dispute over Greenland.