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“A trade war is in no one’s interest”.
These were Sir Keir Starmer’s words on Monday as he ruled out imposing retaliatory tariffs on the United States since Donald Trump raised the stakes in his battle with Europe for control of Greenland.
The US president has threatened further trade charges against his NATO allies unless he gets his way.
Here, Sky News explains the details behind those threats and what they could mean for Western economies at a time when their military alliance is under threat in a way never seen before.
Money latest: How financial markets have reacted to Trump threats
What is Trump up to?
The US president wants to buy Greenland, citing national security grounds, in the strategically important Arctic.
The territory also has a vast mineral wealth.
But this demand is unacceptable to Danish-controlled Greenland and Europe’s leaders, who argue that ownership is a matter for the people of Greenland and Denmark.
What has the president threatened?
Mr Trump said at the weekend he would deploy a phased increase in trade tariffs on NATO allies refusing to support his plan.
As such, he wants to charge Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland a 10% tariff “on any and all goods” sent to the US from 1 February.
The aim is to make their goods less attractive to US importers, harming European companies and economies in the process.
This 10% tariff would increase to 25% from June unless a deal is agreed.
Starmer says Trump not prepared to use military force to take Greenland – latest updates
What does this mean in practice?
Essentially, it gives European nations less than two weeks to come up with a plan to…
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