Why does Trump need Greenland? Five attainable causes after tariff risk | EUROtoday

Donald Trump has threatened the UK, Denmark and different European nations with 10 per cent tariffs over their opposition to a takeover of Greenland by the US.

Increasing worldwide tensions, international warming and the altering world economic system have put the mineral-rich island on the coronary heart of the talk over commerce and safety.

Trump has made it recognized he desires his nation to manage the territory that guards the Arctic and North Atlantic approaches to North America.

Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark, a longtime US ally and Nato member that has rejected Mr Trump’s threats. Greenland’s personal authorities additionally opposes US designs on the island, saying the folks will resolve their very own future.

Mr Trump has mentioned he can take the territory “the easy way or the hard way”. On Saturday, Trump mentioned 10 per cent tariffs would come into impact on February 1 on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Finland.

Those tariffs would improve to 25 per cent on June 1 and would proceed till a deal is reached for the US to buy Greenland. “World Peace is at stake! China and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing Denmark can do about it,” Trump mentioned.

Here’s why Greenland is strategically vital to Arctic safety:

Greenland’s Arctic location is essential

Greenland sits off the northeastern coast of Canada, with greater than two-thirds of its territory mendacity throughout the Arctic Circle. That has made it essential to the defence of North America for the reason that Second World War, when the US occupied Greenland to make sure it didn’t fall into the palms of Nazi Germany and to guard essential North Atlantic transport lanes.

Following the Cold War, the Arctic was largely an space of worldwide cooperation. But local weather change is thinning the Arctic ice, promising to create a northwest passage for worldwide commerce and reigniting competitors with Russia, China and different nations over entry to the area’s mineral assets.

The Trump administration prices Denmark with not doing sufficient to shore up safety within the area – one thing European allies are desperately trying to enhance because the US weighs taking the territory by power.

Rare earth minerals

Greenland is a wealthy supply of the so-called uncommon earth minerals which might be a key element of cellphones, computer systems, batteries and different hi-tech devices which might be anticipated to energy the world’s economic system within the coming many years.

That has attracted the curiosity of the US and different Western powers as they attempt to ease China’s dominance of the marketplace for these crucial minerals.

Development of Greenland’s mineral assets is difficult due to the island’s harsh local weather, whereas strict environmental controls have proved an extra hurdle for potential traders.

US army presence in Greenland

The US Department of Defence operates the distant Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, which was operated by the US after they and Denmark signed the Greenland Defence Agreement in 1951.

It helps missile warning, missile defence and house surveillance operations for the US and Nato.

Greenland additionally guards half of what’s often called the GIUK (Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom) Gap, the place Nato screens Russian naval actions within the North Atlantic.

Danish armed forces in Greenland

Denmark is shifting to strengthen its army presence round Greenland and within the wider North Atlantic.

Last 12 months, the federal government introduced a roughly 14.6 billion-kroner (£1.7bn) settlement with events together with the governments of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, one other self-governing territory of Denmark, to “improve capabilities for surveillance and maintaining sovereignty in the region.”

The plan contains three new Arctic naval vessels, two extra long-range surveillance drones and satellite tv for pc capability.

Denmark additionally introduced contemporary investments into the territory’s defence price some 27.4 billion-kroner in October final 12 months. Upgrades would profit maritime patrol plane capabilities and naval vessels, Denmark’s defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen mentioned.

Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command is headquartered in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, and tasked with the “surveillance, assertion of sovereignty and military defence of Greenland and the Faroe Islands”, in response to its web site. It has smaller satellite tv for pc stations throughout the island.

The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite Danish naval unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty within the Arctic wilderness, can be stationed in Greenland.

Security threats to the Arctic

In 2018, China declared itself a “near-Arctic state” in an effort to achieve extra affect within the area. China has additionally introduced plans to construct a “Polar Silk Road” as a part of its international Belt and Road Initiative, which has created financial hyperlinks with nations around the globe.

At the time, the US secretary of state Mike Pompeo rejected China’s transfer, saying: “Do we want the Arctic Ocean to transform into a new South China Sea, fraught with militarisation and competing territorial claims?”

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has mentioned Russia is apprehensive about Nato’s actions within the Arctic and can reply by strengthening its army functionality within the polar area. European leaders’ issues have been heightened following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.