The Morning Risk Report: Trump to Hit European Nations With 10% Tariffs as He Presses for Sale of Greenland By David Smagalla | Dow Jones Risk Journal
Good morning. President Trump said he would impose 10% tariffs
on imports from several European countries in an effort to pressure Denmark to sell Greenland to the U.S.
Potential impact: The move risks upending a landmark trade deal Trump reached with the European Union last year that was poised to lower tariffs on many U.S. exports. The leaders of some of the most powerful political groups in the European Parliament-which must approve the deal-said Saturday that steps to fully implement the pact should be put on hold.
Details: The president, in a social-media post on Saturday, said the 10% tariffs would go into effect on Feb. 1 and would apply to all goods sent to the U.S. from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland. The tariffs will increase to 25% on June 1 and remain in place until a deal is reached for what he called the "complete and total purchase" of Greenland, Trump said.
Pressure amped up: Trump's announcement comes after European nations sent military and diplomatic assets to Greenland to deter the U.S. from acquiring the territory.
Europe's reaction: European leaders pushed back strongly against Trump's tariff threat. "Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral," the EU's top two officials-European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa-said in a joint statement.
See also:
This Trade War Would Be Unlike Any Other
In Trump's Drive for Greenland, NATO Is the First Casualty
Europe Contends With a Big New Threat: the U.S.
Europe Is Bracing for a New Trade Fight With Trump. Here Are Its Options.
Why an Emboldened Trump Set His Sights on Greenland
Why Greenland Matters to U.S. Defense, in 7 Maps
Webinar
President Trump's declared intention to levy tariffs on European nations to force a sale of Greenland to the U.S.-and European military deployments to deter any forcible takeover- signal a serious crisis in the trans-Atlantic alliance.
The dispute over Greenland threatens a new round of uncertainty for global business, not only in terms of U.S.-European trade but also the broader relationship, including security and defense cooperation.
This Jan. 18 recorded webinar drew from Dow Jones analysts to sketch out the developments to watch and risks to monitor. Watch here .
Compliance
With military action on hold, the U.S. puts new sanctions on Iran.
With a decision on military action on pause, the U.S. turned to economic pressure
on Iran, rolling out a host of new sanctions on officials it said were responsible for the bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
Top of the Treasury Department's new sanctions list was Ali Larijani, the head of Iran's national security council and a close counterpart to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The department accused Larijani of coordinating the crackdown, which human-rights groups estimate has left thousands dead.
New U.S. Sanctions Target Iran-Linked Houthis
America's largest wind project wins a round in legal fight with Trump.
A federal judge in Virginia ruled on Friday that an offshore wind farm owned by utility Dominion Energy can resume construction , overturning a stop-work order issued by the Trump administration last month. It was the third time this week that a judge has ruled against the administration on different offshore wind projects.
On Dec. 22, the Interior Department issued stop work-orders to all five wind farms that are currently under construction in the U.S. The department raised concerns about national security, citing a classified report and saying that the turbines can interfere with radar operations.
Equinor Can Resume Work on Offshore Wind Project Trump Tried to Halt
Bank executives are tiptoeing
around President Trump's call to temporarily cap credit-card interest rates at 10%, opposing the idea while making sure not to antagonize the White House.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that he plans to sue JPMorgan Chase
for allegedly closing his accounts after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
A co-founder of artificial-intelligence startup Thinking Machines had an undisclosed workplace relationship
prior to his firing on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear Bayer's challenge
to Roundup litigation, giving the company new hope in its effort to beat back tens of thousands of claims that its flagship weedkiller causes cancer.
Since the 1960s, the law has required investors to disclose their 5% stake in a company where they have takeover ambitions. Thousands of these filings arrive at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission each year. Lawyers for Elon Musk say that this filing requirement, and the SEC itself, are unconstitutional .
Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern's merger application is incomplete , a U.S. railroad regulator said Friday, a setback for the two companies' efforts to unite their systems in a $71.5 billion deal.
Meta Platforms and Reddit have been hit by Australia's ban on social media for children. Now the U.K. and France are considering similar measures . Podcast
On this week's episode of the Dow Jones Risk Journal Podcast: Iran's government faces a crucial test as it navigates mass protests and the threat of U.S. military action.
Oxford Analytica's Laura James discusses the risks arising from a regime weakened even further than it has been in recent years. Also, WSJ Pro Sustainable Business's Clara Hudson explains the chilling effect on renewable energy projects stemming from the Trump administration's attempts to halt offshore wind construction. James Rundle hosts.
You can listen to new episodes every Friday on Apple Podcasts , Spotify
and Amazon .
Risk
U.S. blockade shuts off China, Cuba from Venezuelan oil.
On New Year's Day, an oil tanker partially filled with sanctioned crude slipped out of Venezuela's main export terminal
and sailed toward Iran. The next day, another tanker escaped with Venezuelan oil, scrambling its signals to hide its course. Satellite imagery later confirmed it was headed to China.
The two cargoes appear to be the last illicit oil to leave Venezuela, according to a report from shipping intelligence firm Kpler.
China impact. Ultimately, the slowdown in Venezuelan oil flows threatens China's status as the world's most prolific oil buyer. The country has shopped for heavily discounted crude from places like Russia, Iran and Venezuela, but as its options become more limited, it risks slowing down its buying as the global oil market anticipates a supply glut.
U.S. Lawmakers Urge Expanded Shadow Fleet Sanctions to Match EU Measures
Kidnapping and $12 Billion Battle Hang Over Conoco Return to Venezuela
The Tanker Tycoons and Oil Brokers Cashing In on the Venezuela Trade
Chevron's Dilemma in Venezuela: Support Trump's Vision Without Losing Money
Trump's realpolitik takes over Davos.
President Trump video-conferenced into the World Economic Forum a year ago demanding lower interest rates from the global elites gathered and threatening tariffs against those making products anywhere but America.
This year, he is heading in person to the Alpine summit with an entourage of U.S. officials against a backdrop of a world in flux , in large part because of his own unconventional actions at home and abroad. Suddenly, an event once dismissed as a talking shop for executives who think they can solve the world's problems has become a must-attend gathering that people are eager to attend.
Trump's $1 Billion-a-Seat Diplomacy Club Takes Aim at the U.N.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has directed relentless purges to assert a degree of autocratic control unseen in China in decades, with Communist Party enforcers punishing nearly a million people last year. But when it comes to getting things done, he still wants more commitment
to his agenda.
The protesters who filled the streets of Tehran are gone , replaced by security forces and reminders of the violence used by the regime to suppress a national uprising aimed at ending its rule.
Senior U.S. officials are concerned that a new Syrian military offensive against Kurdish forces could expand into a broader campaign
against the U.S.-backed militia, threatening to destabilize Syria and further divide two crucial U.S. security partners fighting Islamic State.
About 1,500 active-duty soldiers have been placed on alert
for a potential deployment to Minnesota in response to widespread protests over immigration enforcement in the state, according to four defense officials.
Artificial technology companies' need for a type of once-affordable microchip threatens to drive up prices of all electronics -and limit data-center ambitions.
Prospect of nine-figure paycheck was supposed to spur CEOs to deliver super results, but few of these Elon Musk-like experiments are working out that way .
Economists are now forecasting 2.3% GDP growth
in the U.S. for 2025 and 2.2% for 2026, revising initial tariff-induced cuts upwards.
Israel is publicly pushing back
against the makeup of a U.S. committee created to oversee Gaza, which includes Israeli rivals like Turkey and Qatar. What Else Matters The New York Stock Exchange said Monday that it was developing a platform for trading tokenized securities , putting the heft of the 233-year-old exchange behind Wall Street's growing embrace of the technology behind bitcoin.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez promised an investigation after two high-speed trains collided
in the country's south, leaving at least 39 people dead and dozens more injured.
China's population shrank for a fourth consecutive year
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
January 20, 2026 07:29 ET (12:29 GMT)
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