Freeze US trade deal over Trump Greenland threats, EU lawmaker urges
Euractiv | 7 January 2026
Freeze US trade deal over Trump Greenland threats, EU lawmaker urges
by Eddy Wax / Magnus Lund Nielsen
The EU should hold off completing its trade deal with the United States until Donald Trump stops threatening to seize Greenland, a Danish MEP has urged.
Per Clausen, a far-left lawmaker in the European Parliament, is gathering signatures from fellow lawmakers to support his call. However, it is highly unlikely to be turned into real policy since the European Commission, a separate institution, has the whip hand on trade policy.
If the Parliament were to approve the trade deal – under which Washington imposes 15% tariffs on most EU exports – while Trump continues to threaten Greenland, “it will be easily seen as rewarding him,” Clausen wrote in a letter he circulated on Wednesday to other MEPs.
The EU has pledged to cut its tariffs on US agricultural and industrial goods but is yet to do so, pending agreement between the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, two of the bloc’s institutions.
Freezing progress on the deal “will make it clear to the US that it isn’t free to make such threats and prepare for a military occupation of Greenland,” Clausen told Euractiv.
The Parliament hasn’t yet developed its own negotiating position. A plenary vote on the matter is expected in February.
A strong stance against the US “would refute the often-heard claim that the EU cannot do anything because the US is so powerful,” said Clausen, a trade unionist and former Danish MP for the Red-Green Alliance.
“In military terms, that is absolutely true. In economic terms, however, it is not entirely the case. In this area, the EU certainly has some opportunities.”
