Trump tariffs: German finance minister says 'won't be blackmailed' as he calls for united response from European nations

On the recent additional tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration on several European nations over the issue of Greenland, German finance minister Lars Klingbeil said on Sunday European partners must give a clear and united response to the United States.

Germany will always extend a hand to the US to find common solutions but can not be blackmailed, Klingbeil said in a statement.

“This is a point we can't go along with, we won't be blackmailed,” said Klingbeil. “We will always extend our hand to US, want common solutions.”

EU’s Anti-Coercion Instrument

The European Union (EU) encountered demands on Sunday to deploy an unprecedented set of economic defenses called the "Anti-Coercion Instrument" as part of the coalition's reaction to President Trump’s tariff warnings against European allies.

On Saturday, Trump pledged to execute a series of escalating duties on EU members Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Finland, alongside Britain and Norway, until the United States is permitted to purchase Greenland, intensifying a conflict over the destiny of Denmark's massive Arctic territory.

Every nation involved, already facing tariffs of 10% and 15%, has deployed limited military contingents to Greenland. Cyprus, currently holding the rotating six-month EU leadership, called ambassadors to an urgent assembly in Brussels on Sunday, which was expected to begin at 5 p.m. (1600 GMT).

Trump’s declaration occurred Saturday while thousands of Greenlandic citizens were finishing a demonstration outside the US Consulate in the capital city, Nuuk.

The Republican leader seemed to suggest that he was utilizing the tariffs as pressure to mandate negotiations with Denmark and other European states concerning the status of Greenland, a self-governing region of NATO partner Denmark that he considers vital to US strategic security.

European Union foreign policy head Kaja Kallas remarked that China and Russia would gain from the fractures emerging between the U.S. and Europe.

She added in a post on social media: “If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO. Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity."

US Sen. Mark Kelly, a former U.S. Navy pilot and Democrat who represents Arizona, posted that Trump’s threatened tariffs on US allies would make Americans “pay more to try to get territory we don’t need.”

“Troops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend the territory from us. Let that sink in,” he wrote on social media. “The damage this President is doing to our reputation and our relationships is growing, making us less safe. If something doesn’t change we will be on our own with adversaries and enemies in every direction.”