Dutch Foreign Minister calls U.S. tariffs on European countries a “ridiculous proposal”

Dutch caretaker Foreign Minister David van Weel criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to impose additional import tariffs on eight European countries, including the Netherlands, calling the move “blackmail” and a “ridiculous proposal.”

Trump announced Saturday that the United States would impose a 10 percent tariff on all products from the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Finland, and Denmark starting February 1. The tariff would rise to 25 percent on June 1 if the countries refuse to transfer Greenland to the United States.

Trump said Greenland is needed for U.S. national security, claiming that Russia and China are also showing interest in the Arctic territory. Greenland is an autonomous part of Denmark, and the Greenlandic prime minister said this week in Copenhagen that the island does not want to become part of the United States.

Van Weel told WNL on Sunday, “This is blackmail. It is a ridiculous proposal. Allies do not treat each other this way. In the next two weeks, everything must be done to get this proposal off the table. If that does not happen, all options remain open. I am very unhappy about this.”

European countries have deployed military reconnaissance units to Greenland to prepare for exercises. Van Weel said these deployments have been “discussed with the Americans on various levels.”