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Europe Today: EU-US trade war looms as Davos week begins
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Tune in to Euronews' new flagship morning programme, Europe Today, at 8 am Brussels time. In just 15 minutes, we bring you up to speed on the biggest news of the day.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/01/19/europe-today-eu-us-trade-war-looms-as-davos-week-begins
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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00:00Good morning, it is Monday the 19th of January. I'm Maeve McMahan and this is Europe Today.
00:21Your daily dose of European news and analysis live here on Euronews.
00:26Coming up today, European lawmakers say they will not be blackmailed as they respond to President Donald Trump's threats of tariffs against countries voicing support for Greenland.
00:38As the US president signals a tougher economic stance towards allies, concern is growing here in Brussels of a looming trade war.
00:45An emergency EU summit has been scheduled for Thursday.
00:48For more on what President Trump is planning and what exactly it could mean for Europe's economy, we can now head to the Swiss village of Davos to the World Economic Forum, where our EU editor Maria Taddeo is standing by for us.
01:02Good morning, Maria. Just tell us what exactly is President Trump threatening and what could it mean for our viewers?
01:07Well, good morning, Maeve, from this Davos special, of course, World Economic Forum kicking off this weekend, a dramatic weekend, as you say, President Trump saying he would slap 10 percent tariffs on eight European countries, including Germany, France and Denmark, for playing, quote, dangerous games around Greenland and the Arctic.
01:29That tariff could go all the way to 25 percent by June if the complete and total sale, that's a quote of Greenland, is not sealed by then.
01:38Obviously, that has triggered a furious and very fast reaction from the Europeans saying they cannot agree to this blackmail.
01:44As you say, yesterday there was a summit of European ambassadors, an extraordinary meeting, and they held talks for almost three hours.
01:52We understand, and a diplomat familiar with the matter, told Euronews that multiple discussions were held, multiple tools will present it in terms of what could this response look like.
02:03At this point, we should stress, however, the EU has decided not to deploy the anti-coercion tool.
02:10Remember, that is a trade bazooka, to some extent, that could really shut off access to American companies to the single market.
02:16They have, however, revived a list of potential retaliatory tariffs of 93 billion euros that could be done if there is no deal before that February 1st deadline for the tariffs that President Trump is threatening to go into effect.
02:31But they still say there is a diplomatic way out, and there's still, of course, the way of dialogue, and that is always what the EU prefers.
02:38Of course, of course, we should note that for the Europeans, it is clear that if no solution is found before the end of the month, well, obviously, the EU and the US will be heading into a trade war.
02:49That scenario, I repeat, is one that Brussels wants to avoid at this hour.
02:54Well, you mentioned dialogue, Maria, and of course, EU leaders are hoping to encounter President Trump there in Davos in the corridors of the World Economic Forum.
03:03What should we expect from those meetings?
03:05Well, it's a lot of shuttle diplomacy.
03:10That's how a diplomat told me last night.
03:12They look at the meetings in Davos.
03:14Of course, the head of the European Commission will be participating, but also a number of European leaders and President Trump.
03:20This will be the first opportunity to meet face-to-face ever since, of course, that threat came in on the Saturday for tariffs.
03:26If Greenland is not sold to the United States, obviously, Denmark refuses and has said that it will not move an inch on that point.
03:34But, of course, the meetings this week in Davos could provide that path for diplomacy, but also a ramp-off to tensions.
03:42We should also note a meeting of European leaders is expected in Brussels on Thursday.
03:47Indeed.
03:47Thank you so much, Maria Tadeo, for that live update there from Davos.
03:51Davos.
03:51And to get, of course, the view from the European Parliament, we can bring in the Italian MEP now, Brando Benefey, who also heads the European Parliament's delegation for relations with the United States.
04:03Good morning, Mr. Benefey.
04:04Thank you so much for joining us here live on Europe Today.
04:09Good morning.
04:09So, look, if President Trump does follow through with his threats, we're looking at a full-blown trade war.
04:16What will that mean for Europeans?
04:19Well, we are brought in this direction by the escalation that was built by President Trump.
04:28We do not want to be here.
04:30We have been always clear.
04:32We value the transatlantic relationship.
04:34We want good relations with the United States.
04:38But what is happening in these days is crossing another red line.
04:42In fact, it's threatening a NATO country.
04:46Greenland is part of Denmark.
04:49And so I think a very important thing is that whatever deterrence measures we propose,
04:56which can be further tariffs in case Trump goes on with his intent,
05:03or the anti-coercion instrument that will damage the U.S. economy,
05:11the important thing is that we are clear what are the conditions for this to be activated.
05:17My experience working on the relations with the U.S. is that we are not credible if we just say we are ready to use measures,
05:26but we do not clearly, calmly say what are the conditions for that to be triggered.
05:32And in my view, we should set a clear deadline.
05:36If in a few weeks we do not have clarity and an agreement on the future of Greenland,
05:42I think we need to be clear that the measures will be activated.
05:46Because now, of course, the EU is choosing diplomacy over these punitive tools.
05:50Why is now not the moment to use these tough trade measures, Mr. Benefey?
05:55Well, I think that any tentative to still have a diplomatic solution must be used until the very end.
06:03But there must be an end.
06:05The problem of Europe is that this end of the tentative to find a diplomatic solution sometimes seems to never end.
06:14And this is profited by, in this case, the U.S. who think we are not credible.
06:19We are not serious about the possible consequences.
06:23So I think we need to be clear that there would be very bad consequences for the U.S. economy
06:30if Trump administration goes in that direction.
06:33And I know, I know because of my work, that many in the Congress are on our safe side.
06:39I hope and I wish that many more voices in the U.S. Congress will raise to say that this madness has to end
06:49and that we need to sit down and work together as allies.
06:53And indeed, we've seen, of course, volatility this morning on the financial markets.
06:57Our viewers back home exactly concerned as well, worried about the impact this could have on them.
07:02But many, of course, calling as well for the EU-U.S. trade deal to be frozen, to be put on hold.
07:08That could be a strong move the Europeans could play here.
07:11Yeah, I think that's inevitable.
07:14Because as extra tariffs are being threatened,
07:18the agreement in this moment seems to be not fulfilled from the U.S. side.
07:25There should never be such a threat of further tariffs because of the presence of military from a certain state in Greenland.
07:34But this is what we heard from President Trump.
07:38So inevitably, the vote that was foreseen next week in the Trade Committee of the European Parliament
07:45to actually advance the deal will be frozen.
07:48I'm sure this will be the result.
07:51I hope that we will be able to resume this work soon and that the relations go back to normal.
07:57But this is not the situation today.
07:59And I think we need to be very serious.
08:01Indeed, Brando Benefey.
08:03Thank you so much for joining us this morning here live on Euronews.
08:07MEPs, of course, will discuss this crisis situation in Greenland
08:11and the impact of this major trade dispute at their plenary session taking place this week in Strasbourg.
08:16Our Jakub Janus explains how we got here and why it matters to you.
08:23Greenland is not for sale.
08:25But that will not stop the most famous real estate investor.
08:29And to get it, Trump is literally ready to put the Transatlantic Alliance on ice.
08:35And here is the big picture.
08:37Starting this February, Trump will hit eight European countries
08:42that openly oppose his Greenland takeover with a 10% tariff.
08:46His demand? Sell the island or pay up.
08:50However, the US is EU's biggest business partner.
08:54Trade in goods and services hits a staggering 1.6 trillion euros a year.
09:01And unlike the deficit with China, this relationship is healthy.
09:05Trade is balanced with a gap of just 3%.
09:10But trade wars are no joke.
09:13US exports to Europe support over 2 million American workers.
09:18While European investment in the US employs over 3.5 million.
09:24And for us, it's even bigger.
09:26Exports to the US support 5 million European jobs.
09:29And US companies here employ another 4.5 million.
09:33Now that freezes over.
09:35In response, the leader of the biggest European Parliament party, Manfred Weber,
09:40says the EU-US trade pact is not possible at this stage.
09:44And Brussels is stuck.
09:47It still has the anti-coercion instrument,
09:49a trade bazooka ready to hit back.
09:52But some are hesitating to pull the trigger.
09:55Meanwhile, last Saturday, the EU rushed to sign the Mercosur deal
09:59to replace the unreliable US market with Latin American partners.
10:05Big politics is usually distant.
10:07But this time, it's about your job and your wallet.
10:10So buckle up.
10:11And this week, EU leaders are meeting Trump in Davos.
10:15Let's hope they bring winter coats, as they will get a frosty reception.
10:19And for more on how this tariff dispute could overshadow the World Economic Forum
10:28taking place in the snowy village of Davos,
10:30we can head back there now and bring in Maria Tadeo once more,
10:34who's joined, in fact, by the Managing Director of the whole forum.
10:37Maria?
10:37Yes, of course.
10:41And we'll be live this entire week from Davos.
10:43And I'm very happy to say we're joined by Mary Dosek,
10:45who is a Managing Editor, as you say,
10:46but also Director, excuse me, and Chief Business Officer
10:49at the World Economic Forum.
10:51Sir, thank you very much.
10:52You say a forum like this provides a platform for dialogue,
10:57but the world is in disarray.
10:58We saw that over the weekend.
11:00Is dialogue really an option?
11:01No, we are convening leaders from around the world
11:07at a very pivotal time for global geopolitics.
11:11It is a very contested geopolitical and geoeconomic environment.
11:15So a platform like this is actually needed more than ever
11:19for people to come together, engage, and have their dialogue
11:22given the velocity of change geopolitically and geoeconomically
11:26that we're seeing happening all around us.
11:29And, of course, as we said at the top of the show,
11:31there will be important meetings between European leaders
11:34and President Trump.
11:35Just out of curiosity, and I'm sure our viewers really care about this,
11:38President Trump is not an easy guest to book.
11:41How does that happen, and what do you think it matters
11:43for the U.S. to be here?
11:45No, it's very important we have President Trump here,
11:48the representative of the largest economy in the world,
11:51together with 64 other heads of state and government
11:53from around the world, including Commission President von der Leyen.
11:58We have Chancellor Mertz, President Macron.
12:02So it's going to be a big diplomatic moment here, I think, this week,
12:06given a lot of the changes that we're seeing,
12:09particularly on the trade front.
12:11And can I ask you, now that you mentioned the trade,
12:14and that's becoming now incredibly important in a way,
12:17trade and tariffs are becoming a way of doing politics,
12:20how different is the agenda for the World Economic Forum this year?
12:23There's been, of course, a lot of this talk that it will focus less on climate,
12:27perhaps less on progressive ideas, some suggest it's a less woke Davos.
12:31Is that too much, perhaps, speculation on that?
12:33What's the focus this year for you?
12:35No, the program overall is developed with looking at
12:38what is the latest data on the state of the world economy.
12:43Of course, we have a number of longstanding work streams
12:47that we also put on the agenda that have a critical milestone.
12:53So, for example, we have a big pillar focusing here
12:55on building prosperity within planetary boundaries.
12:59We have a big pillar on investing better in people.
13:02But, of course, also issues related to technology,
13:05the AI revolution and geopolitics are also a big part of the agenda.
13:09So, the social component still matters,
13:11or would you say this is a more business-minded, business-focused Davos?
13:16No. For example, the pillar on investing in people
13:19is really all about how do you prepare people
13:21for the new economy that is emerging.
13:23So, there's a number of sessions that are really having
13:25a very clear-eyed view of what it means
13:29for communities and people around the world.
13:31And, sir, there's two final questions I want to ask you.
13:33There's been a lot of speculation that Iran's foreign minister
13:36will be participating this week.
13:37Can you confirm that?
13:38And, again, is that in the spirit of dialogue?
13:40Because a week ago it looked like it was going to be a war.
13:44We, the Iranian foreign minister was invited some time ago,
13:49and we don't have right now a session with him in the program.
13:55And just lastly, by the time we get to Friday,
13:58what's a good Davos, just very briefly,
14:00what does a good Davos look like?
14:01Given the stakes that we now see in particularly economic diplomacy,
14:07we will have a lot of those protagonists here that I mentioned,
14:11so that we hope that we can play a role in facilitating engagement and dialogue
14:16on a very important issue for Europe and for all stakeholders.
14:21Well, sir, thank you very much.
14:23And, of course, the World Economic Forum continues this entire week.
14:25We'll be live.
14:27A platform for dialogue.
14:28We'll have to wait and see.
14:29Indeed.
14:30Maria Sayo, thank you so much for that.
14:32And, of course, to Mirek Dujek,
14:33the managing director of the World Economic Forum.
14:37And for more on what's going on in Davos,
14:39do follow our special coverage on Euronews,
14:41including a daily evening show.
14:43And, of course, for updates on the tragic train crash
14:46that took place in Spain last night,
14:47do visit our website, euronews.com,
14:49or download our app.
14:51That's it for today.
14:51See you tomorrow.
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