Overview
- President Trump announced stepped import levies on eight NATO-aligned European countries—10% from February 1 and 25% from June 1—to pressure a U.S. bid to acquire Greenland.
- EU ambassadors held an emergency meeting in Brussels and Council President António Costa scheduled a leaders’ summit in the coming days to coordinate the bloc’s response.
- Reports from diplomats indicate pre‑designed EU counter‑tariffs worth about €93 billion could automatically take effect on February 6 if no agreement is reached.
- France is urging activation of the EU Anti‑Coercion Instrument, enabling measures such as retaliatory duties, limits on public procurement access, and targeted trade restrictions.
- European Parliament leaders paused ratification of the recent US‑EU trade deal, and bipartisan U.S. senators criticized the tariff threat as harmful to NATO, while NATO chief Mark Rutte engaged Trump ahead of a planned meeting in Davos.