Forum Topic

Greenland 10% February Tariffs Will Be Cancelled

Apparently because a rudimentary deal with Greenland might have been structured …

Sue Hammond ● 1d9 Comments

Sorry Steven I think you underestimate the current situation.The UK (and much of Europe) have outsourced their manufacturing to China under Thatcher and then successive Thatcherite governments of various colours. This is true for much of Europe too.China & the US now have lower energy costs than Europe so it is unlikely that manufacturing will return to Europe.THen you have the basic raw materials that the Western governments have simply not invested in and the EU & USA are again dependent upon China.It is very odd that the same people that cheer-leaded outsourcing are now the same people banging the drums for war.One of the things the British Empire did to maintain control was to never allow anything but basic processing of raw materials by the colonies. So outsourcing was hardly a naive policy.Thatcher was quite happy to import soviet and apartheid (slave labour) coal to undermine the UK's independent energy policy.One of the reason we have one of the highest energy costs in the world can be traced back to the Thatcher privatisation model. Norway went down a different route. I wonder who is better off?No doubt the people that were telling us it's an independent nuclear deterrent are still very confident it is. However it is extremely unlikely that the US under various administrations would trust the UK with such a weapon.The UK's relationship to the US has not changed it has always been a subordinate role since WWII.When a foreign country dictates your history it becomes very clear.

Ed Robinson ● 10h

Even if European nations were prepared to make huge spending cuts to increase their defence budgets  to 5% of GDP (which is doubtful),  it would still take about ten years to build armed forces capable of challenging the threat from Russia and China. So in the meantime Europe will remain dependent on the USA.

Steven Rose ● 14h

I think Mark Carney’s speech pretty much summed up where the world is now in terms of trading, political and military relationships; “Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu. Great powers can afford to go it alone. They have the market size, the military capacity, the leverage to dictate terms,” he said. “Middle powers do not.” If that is accurate, then I can see no other option for the UK then to rejoin the EU and for the EU to increase their combined military strength. The US is not a reliable ally; the Greenland episode is a wake up call and a game changer. Let’s not play games anymore, as Carney said ‘nostalgia is not a strategy’. Snoozers are losers!

Gerry Boyce ● 22h

I think it's quite clear that he just backed down when someone finally pushed back on him. Still a good result, calm head prevail.

Michael Brigo ● 1d

all the talk of invading Greenland is bluster to set the stage for the real goal...rare earth minerals. In Trump world it's much better for America to exploit GL than Russia or China

Adam Tripp ● 1d

Trump cannot understand anyone who would defend land which they do not own, or actually won't own - after a Trump-made peace settlement has been made.

David Ainsworth ● 1d

Definitely good news but let's see what the deal looks like.Now let's have one on Ukraine too - clinch that and somebody might just earn a Nobel Peace Prize.  The problem is Trump keeps blaming Zelensky for holding up a deal but I guess that is because Zelensky doesn't want to give up land they have successfully defended against the Russians for 4 years.  Putin has so far not conceded anything nor does it look like he will whatever Trump tries to do - hence Trump heaps all the pressure on Zelensky.

Jonathan Callaway ● 1d

The news of a deal, if true, is welcome. But Trump could have negotiated a suitable arrangement to safeguard Greenland without bullying and insulting his NATO allies. In the course of his dreadful speech today he also undermined his guarantees to Taiwan and Japan by suggesting that America wouldn’t bother defending a territory it doesn’t own.

Steven Rose ● 1d

Trump halts tariffs after dramatic breakthrough with NATO boss on Greenland dealPresident Donald Trump announced a dramatic breakthrough in his bid to acquire Greenland after striking a deal with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Trump said he will scrap tariffs scheduled for February 1st following what he described as 'very productive' talks on a framework agreement covering the entire Arctic region.The president said 'additional discussions' are ongoing regarding Greenland and that Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff are 'responsible for the negotiations.' Trump told reporters in Davos on Wednesday that the deal will be 'put out pretty soon.' 'It gets us everything we needed to get,' he insisted, adding: 'It's a deal that leverybody's very happy with.' https://mol.im/a/15485717

Sue Hammond ● 1d