PARIS: The United States will also suffer if President Donald Trump implements threats to impose tariffs on European countries opposing his plans to acquire Greenland, a French minister said on Sunday.
"In this escalation of tariffs, he has a lot to lose as well, as do his own farmers and industrialists," French Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard told broadcasters Europe 1 and CNews.
Trump has threatened to impose a 10-per cent tariff from February 1 on all goods sent to the United States from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland.
All are part of the European Union, except for the United Kingdom and Norway.
That levy would then be increased to 25 per cent on June 1 "until such time as a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland", said Trump, who claims the United States needs the Arctic island, an autonomous Danish territory, for its national security.
An extraordinary meeting of EU ambassadors has been called in Brussels for Sunday afternoon.
"The European Union has potential strike force" from a commercial standpoint, Genevard said.
"This is a response that must be handled with caution, because this escalation could be deadly -- but it could also be deadly for the United States."
Any US takeover of Greenland would be "unacceptable", the minister added.
"It is clear that the Europeans will not let the United States do as it pleases."