

Europe’s ‘mice’ must find their inner tigers to roar back as Trump turns tariffs into weapons over Greenland
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Cold War satirical novel The Mouse That Roared imagined a tiny European statelet declaring war on the US in the hope of being lavished with American aid after its inevitable defeat. It’s a title that came to mind when European nations sent three dozen soldiers to Greenland in response to US President Donald Trump’s threats to wrest the island from Danish control.
The idea seems to have been: Support Denmark, yes, but don’t antagonize the White House when Ukrainian security is also on the line. Whatever the intent, it hasn’t worked. Trump’s contemptuous delight in beating up US allies was given free rein over the weekend as he raised the ante over the Arctic territory.
It’s time for Europe to fight tariff fire with fire. The US president threatened a 10% duty from 1 February on US imports from the countries sending troops: France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark and non-EU members Norway and the UK. That would increase to 25% in June until a deal is reached for his government to buy Greenland.
In a grim flashback to last year’s EU-US trade deal when the bloc had to swallow a 15% tariff, the underbelly of Europe’s trade-dependent, soft-power regime is fully exposed. The cost of such extra tariffs would be high. Bloomberg Economics estimates they could cut these countries’ US exports by up to 50%.
Germany, Sweden and Denmark look especially vulnerable. But another timid acquiescence from the Europeans would be disastrous. This is textbook economic bullying.
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