Starmer says use of tariffs against allies is 'completely wrong'

The Prime Minister has said Donald Trump’s threats to ramp up tariffs against allies until a deal is reached for the US to buy Greenland are “completely wrong”.

On Monday morning, Keir Starmer spoke at Downing Street to set out the UK’s approach to working with allies over the US president’s efforts to take over Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.

Starmer said the dispute with the US president over Greenland must be resolved through “calm discussion between allies”.

The Prime Minister also said that a trade war is “not the right way to resolve differences within an alliance”, and he insisted he would stand up for the UK’s “national interests” in the face of new tariff threats from Trump over Greenland.

“Any decision about the future status of Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland and Denmark alone,” Starmer said.

“That right is fundamental, and we support it.”

Starmer added that Trump’s use of tariffs against allies is “completely wrong”.

“It is not the right way to resolve differences within an alliance,” the Prime Minister said.

He added that a tariff war is in “no one’s interest”.

Asked if the UK was considering retaliatory tariffs against the US, Starmer said “we have not got to that stage”.

“My focus is making sure we don’t get to that stage,” he stated.

The Prime Minister spoke about his determination to protect British people’s security, living standards and future through his work at home and abroad.

Starmer’s speech on Monday comes after the US president said he would charge the UK a 10% tariff “on any and all goods” sent to the US from February 1, increasing to 25% from June 1, until a deal is reached for Washington to purchase Greenland from Denmark.

Trump said the same would apply to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland.

Starmer held a series of calls on Sunday afternoon, speaking with Trump as well as Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Nato chief Mark Rutte.

In all of them, he reiterated his position on Greenland – that its future is for Denmark and Greenland to decide – and that security in the High North is a priority for all Nato allies to protect Euro-Atlantic interests.

Early on Monday, Trump said Denmark had failed to heed warnings to protect Greenland from the threat of Russia.

He wrote on his Truth Social social media site: “NATO has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that ‘you have to get the Russian threat away from Greenland’.

“Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it. Now it is time, and it will be done!!!”

EU ambassadors held emergency talks on Sunday, after which Council president Antonio Costa said they agreed that tariffs were “incompatible” with the trade deal agreed last summer that set a baseline tariff of 15% on most EU exports to the US.

The countries also expressed “readiness to defend ourselves against any form of coercion”, Mr Costa said.

He is expected to convene a summit of the bloc’s leaders later this week.

Despite the international row over the future of Greenland, Starmer insisted that the US “remains a close ally”.

“The US remains a close ally on defence, on security and on intelligence, on nuclear capability, we’ve worked very closely with the United States, and we must never lose sight of our national interest in that,” he told a press conference.

“But we must stand up for our values. We must be clear about the principles that we are applying here, and we’ll continue to do so on the question of tariffs.”

The Prime Minister also stated that the UK does not need to “choose between the US and Europe”.

“I don’t think it’s right for us to choose between the US and Europe. That’s not a new position today. That’s the position I’ve consistently held, as have previous governments,” Starmer told reporters.

“Because we are allies with our European partners and allies with the US, and the strength in being able to keep both those alliances has served us well over the last 80 years.”