Tánaiste Simon Harris is travelling to Brussels today to meet with European finance ministers to discuss US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats levelled against a number of EU countries.
On Saturday, Mr Trump announced that eight European nations would be charged a 10 percent tariff on all goods sold in the US starting February 1, as a result of their refusal to cooperate with American plans to acquire Greenland.
The 10 percent tariff will apply to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland, with the US President adding that the tariff will increase to 25 percent from June 1.
In a joint statement issued yesterday afternoon, the eight countries stated that as members of NATO, they are “committed to strengthening Arctic security as a shared transatlantic interest”.
“The pre-coordinated Danish exercise ‘Arctic Endurance’ conducted with Allies, responds to this necessity. It poses no threat to anyone,” the statement read.
“We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland. Building on the process begun last week, we stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind.
“Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. We will continue to stand united and coordinated in our response. We are committed to upholding our sovereignty,” the nations said.
At today’s meeting of European finance ministers, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris is expected to recall the trade agreement reached between the US and EU last July, a Government press release this morning saying that it was intended to “ensure economic activity between the EU and the US could advance with certainty and clarity”.
Minister Harris will warn that the US tariffs over Greenland threaten “a clear breach of that agreement” and would be damaging to “the EU economy, supply chains and open trade”.
Mr Harris will attend meetings of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) and the Eurogroup over the next two days.
Other issues on the agenda include Ukraine’s economic situation; adoption of the updated Recovery and Resilience Plans of six member states including Ireland; and approval of the conclusions on the ‘Alert Mechanism Report’, which uses a scoreboard of selected indicators to screen EU countries for potential economic imbalances.
Speaking ahead of the meetings, Mr Harris said that he intends to raise with his European counterparts “the latest economic developments with the US, including those linked to Greenland”.
“At a time of heightened global uncertainty, it is vital that we avoid actions that risk further instability; the focus must be on working together to protect all of our economies across the EU,” he said.