On January 17, 2026, former US President Trump made a statement on social media, announcing that he would impose tariffs on all goods imported from eight countries including Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland. The plan was to initially impose a 10% tariff starting from February 1st, and raise the rate to 25% from June 1st. This move was intended to pressure Denmark to agree to allow the United States to "completely and thoroughly purchase" its autonomous territory, Greenland, and quickly triggered a strong backlash from Europe. 

Greenland is rich in resources and has a crucial strategic location. The US has long been intent on obtaining control of this island. Recently, eight European countries held joint military exercises in the region, demonstrating their support for Denmark, which became the direct trigger for this tariff threat. Trump's statement emphasized that the tariffs would remain in place until a purchase agreement was reached. 

The EU responded promptly and forcefully. On January 18th, the member states of the EU held an emergency meeting to discuss the resumption of the previously drafted retaliatory tariff list targeting approximately 93 billion euros of US goods imported to Europe, and possibly to use the "anti-coercion tools" for trade countermeasures. The eight European countries jointly condemned the US actions as "blackmail aimed at undermining the transatlantic relationship". The Danish prime minister explicitly stated that "Europe will not be blackmailed", and French President Macron expressed his intention to push the EU to take the toughest countermeasures. 

At almost the same time, the United States also exerted pressure on its allies in the chip sector. On January 16th, US Commerce Secretary Lutnick publicly warned that if South Korean memory chip manufacturers did not increase production capacity in the US, they would face tariffs as high as 100%. This move was seen as using market access as a bargaining chip to forcibly push the semiconductor manufacturing industry back to the US. In response, South Korean SK Hynix immediately announced the construction of an advanced packaging factory in South Korea, highlighting the consideration of ensuring supply chain security under geopolitical pressure. 

The analysis indicates that from using tariffs to coerce territorial gains to using market pressure to shift the industrial chain, the series of unilateral actions taken by the United States have highly politicized and weaponized economic and trade tools. This not only exacerbates transatlantic trade frictions, forcing the EU to prepare for reciprocal countermeasures and setting a precedent of "forcing with force", but also disrupts the layout logic of the global semiconductor industry, potentially raising the development costs of key technology industries. 

As the US tariff implementation date on February 1 approaches, the EU's countermeasures are also ready to be launched. This dispute triggered by Greenland has gone beyond the scope of simple trade and has become a multi-layered contest involving sovereignty, strategic resources, and industrial dominance. It poses a serious challenge to the rule-based multilateral trading system and its outcome will profoundly affect the future global economic and geopolitical landscape. 

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