Europe Braces for Trump’s Greenland Tariffs
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What are the implications of Trump's new tariffs on Greenland?
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Today's number? 3,000. That's how many international leaders are set to attend the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos this week. Today's other number is 300. That's how many sex workers will also be joining. Money markets matter. If money is evil, then that building is hell. The show goes on! Get back in there and watch the show! Show! Welcome to Profiteer Markets. I'm Ed Elson. That last joke is actually true. Look it up. It is January 20th. Let's check in on yesterday's market vitals. U.S. markets were closed for MLK Day. Still, S&P and Nasdaq futures sank 1% as tensions flared over Greenland. More on that in a moment. Meanwhile, the dollar slid, Bitcoin declined, and gold hit a record high. Okay, what else is happening?
President Trump has upped the stakes for a Greenland acquisition, presenting Europe with a new tariff ultimatum. Over the weekend, he announced 10% tariffs on eight European countries starting February 1st. According to Trump's Truth Social post, the rate will rise to 25% in June unless there is a deal reached for what he called, quote, "'the complete and total purchase of Greenland.'" The targeted countries are putting up a united front, warning this could spark, quote, a dangerous downward spiral. French President Emmanuel Macron is urging the EU to use its trade bazooka, more formally known as the anti-coercion instrument, which could lock the US out of European markets. Meanwhile, Danish officials are skipping the World Economic Forum in Davos in protest, and Denmark deployed additional troops
to Greenland on Monday. European stocks had their worst day in two months yesterday, and gold and silver hit fresh all-time highs, another signal that investors are searching for safety. So, here to discuss what is at stake with potentially another trade war between America and Europe, we are joined by pod favourite Robert Armstrong. U.S. financial commentator for the Financial Times and author of the Unhedged newsletter. Rob, welcome back once again to Profiteer Markets. Good to see you at the end of a very strange weekend. A very strange weekend indeed. We want to jump right into it. So we've got 10% going up to 25% tariffs on eight European countries that have expressed solidarity with Greenland.
We've got Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland. Let's just start with your initial reactions, Rob.
First reaction, is it going to actually happen? As far as I know, the threatened tariffs on any country that trades with Iran have not happened. We had a tweet from the president that was happening. It then just drifted to wherever presidential tweets go when they're not with us. So... So, you know, the rhetoric is pretty strong. There was the bizarre text to the leader of Norway. It seems pretty serious. And markets are reacting. But the hard first question you always have to ask is, is this a case of real strategic boldness a la... Venezuela? Or is this a bunch of talk? Like so many other adventures or near adventures have been in Trump's world of trade. And it's very hard to tell at the outset.
Yes, exactly. And it's exactly what we saw last year with Europe where he threatened 30% and then he went down and then he made all of these exemptions. It seems to me, I mean, again, I always like to remind people taco was a term that was created by Robert Armstrong, who is with us right now. I'm someone who generally lands in the taco camp. And this is another case of that for me. For me, I see this, it's a social media post, he just puts it out there. My instinct is taco. What is interesting is we're in this dynamic where we're seeing that markets in Europe are selling off, but also it's MLK Day, so the US markets are closed.
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