LONDON - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that calm discussions between allies were needed on Greenland, noting that trade wars were not in anyone's interest, after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs on a number of European countries that did not agree with his desire to control the autonomous Danish region.
PM Starmer said at a press conference on Monday that the alliance with the United States had provided security and prosperity for Britain for decades, and he would seek to maintain the relationship and ease tensions around Greenland that had cast doubt on the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
However, he said President Trump's threat to impose increased tariffs on Britain and its European allies until the US was allowed to own Greenland was wrong.
The British Prime Minister emphasized that the future of Greenland must be decided by its people and Denmark alone, and that the historic alliance must remain intact.
"Tariffs should not be used against allies in this way," said Prime Minister Starmer, adding that Britain would be pragmatic and not passive, but he did not intend to increase the tariff war at this time, as reported by Al Arabiya from Reuters (20/1).
"The tariff war is not beneficial to anyone, and we have not reached that stage. Therefore, my focus is to ensure that we do not reach that stage," he said.
Previously, President Trump had threatened to impose tariffs on eight countries that sent a small number of military personnel to Greenland last week, following President Trump's repeated statements that he wanted to take over the vast Danish Arctic island.
President Trump said it was important for the US to control Greenland for national security reasons, as well as citing threats from Russia and China present in the Arctic region.
On Saturday, President Trump said he would impose an additional 10 percent tariff on Britain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland on February 1, with the tariff increasing to 25 percent on June 1, due to their opposition to US control of Greenland, quoted by Anadolu.
PM Starmer revealed he had spoken to President Trump on Sunday, telling him the troops were "clearly there to assess and address the risks from Russia".
He said he hoped there was now "real clarity" on that.
PM Starmer's suggestion that Britain would not retaliate against US tariffs is at odds with the EU's response, where officials have discussed options for responding, including a tariff package on US imports worth 93 billion euros ($107.7 billion).
The British PM said the threat risked causing a "downturn spiral" for Britain, in terms of trade and alliance weakening.
"I don't want to see that happen," he said, but he added: "That doesn't mean that we're going to put aside our principles." and our values. Quite the contrary, we are very clear about what those values are."
It is known that PM Starmer has built a solid relationship with President Trump. In May last year, he became the first leader to secure an agreement to lower some tariffs.
When asked if he thought President Trump was really considering military action, PM Starmer said: "Actually no. I think this can be resolved and must be resolved through calm discussions."
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