Overview
- President Trump said a 10% surcharge on all imports from eight European countries will take effect on February 1 over their opposition to U.S. claims on Greenland.
- Treasury Secretary Bescent defended the plan in an NBC interview, citing the use of economic power to avoid war with Russia and China and to head off a national emergency.
- The eight targeted countries issued a joint statement condemning the threatened tariffs as coercive and harmful to transatlantic relations.
- The Financial Times reported that the EU is preparing potential retaliatory tariffs worth about €93 billion, as the bloc coordinates its response.
- European leaders, including Ursula von der Leyen, intensified consultations ahead of a January 22 meeting, while UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer phoned to protest and called the U.S. plan wrong.