Eight European countries issued a rare joint rebuke of threats to impose new tariffs, warning that such coercive measures would damage the transatlantic relationship and risk triggering a dangerous, self-reinforcing cycle of retaliation. Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom signed the statement, underscoring a broad cross‑Atlantic alarm that spans both EU and non‑EU capitals.
The declaration, released from Copenhagen and reported by Xinhua on 18 January, comes amid heightened trade frictions and a wave of protectionist rhetoric emanating from Washington. European governments framed the threat of unilateral levies as not only an economic affront but a political one — one that corrodes predictability and trust between partners who rely on each other for security, investment and supply chains.
The statement matters because trade and defence are increasingly entangled. NATO interoperability, defence procurement and cooperative investment in high‑technology supply chains all run on predictable rules and mutual confidence. When a major partner threatens tariffs as a bargaining chip, it raises the cost of coordination on everything from military logistics to semiconductor access and critical infrastructure projects.
Beyond immediate economic pain, Brussels and several capitals fear a longer strategic consequence: fragmentation of the Western alliance could create diplomatic openings for rivals and complicate collective responses to global challenges. The inclusion of Norway and the United Kingdom alongside EU states signals that concern is wider than internal EU politics — this is about the resilience of the post‑war transatlantic order.