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French President Emmanuel Macron says the European Union should not hesitate to use the trade bloc’s Anti-Coercion Instrument in face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats over Greenland. Macron, speaking at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alpine town of Davos, pushed back against aggressive U.S. trade pressures and an endless accumulation of new tariffs. The anti-coercion mechanism is a powerful instrument and we should not hesitate to deploy it in todays tough environment, he said Tuesday. The European Union’s top official on Tuesday described U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned new tariffs over Greenland as “a mistake especially between long-standing allies” and called into question Trump’s trustworthiness, saying that he had agreed last year not to impose more tariffs on members of the bloc.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was responding to Trump’s announcement that starting February, a 10% import tax will be imposed on goods from eight European nations that have rallied around Denmark in the wake of his escalating calls for the United States to take over the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland.“The European Union and the United States have agreed to a trade deal last July,” Von der Leyen said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “And in politics as in business a deal is a deal. And when friends shake hands, it must mean something.”“We consider the people of the United States not just our allies, but our friends. And plunging us into a downward spiral would only aid the very adversaries we are both so committed to keeping out of the strategic landscape,” she added.She vowed that the EU’s response “will be unflinching, united and proportional.”Trump has insisted the U.S. needs the territory for security reasons against possible threats from China and Russia.Earlier Tuesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said America’s relations with Europe remain strong and urged trading partners to “take a deep breath” and let tensions driven the new tariff threats over Greenland “play out.”“I think our relations have never been closer,” he said.But Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen, speaking in the Danish parliament, said that “the worst may still be ahead of us.” She said that “we have never sought conflict. We have consistently sought cooperation.” Trump’s threats spark diplomatic flurry across Europe The American leader’s threats have sparked outrage and a flurry of diplomatic activity across Europe, as leaders consider possible countermeasures, including retaliatory tariffs and the first-ever use of the European Union’s anti-coercion instrument.The EU has three major economic tools it could use to pressure Washington: new tariffs, suspension of the U.S.-EU trade deal, and the “trade bazooka” the unofficial term for the bloc’s Anti-Coercion Instrument, which could sanction individuals or institutions found to be putting undue pressure on the EU.Earlier Tuesday, Trump posted on social media that he had spoken with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. He said “I agreed to a meeting of the various parties in Davos, Switzerland.” France’s Macron suggests G-7 meeting in Paris this week Trump also posted a text message from Emmanuel Macron in which the French president suggested a meeting of members of the Group of Seven industrialized democracies in Paris after the Davos gathering. An official close to Macron, who spoke anonymously in line with the French presidency’s customary practices, confirmed the message shared by Trump is genuine.Later, Trump posted some provocatively doctored images. One showed him planting the U.S. flag next to a sign reading “Greenland, U.S. Territory, Est. 2026.” The other showed Trump in the Oval Office next to a map that showed Greenland and Canada covered with the U.S. Stars and Stripes.In a sign of how tensions have increased in recent days, thousands of Greenlanders marched over the weekend in protest of any effort to take over their island.In his latest threat of tariffs, Trump indicated that the import taxes would be retaliation for last week’s deployment of symbolic numbers of troops from the European countries to Greenland though he also suggested that he was using the tariffs as leverage to negotiate with Denmark. Calls for a stronger Europe against Trump’s threats Denmark’s minister for European affairs called Trump’s tariff threats “deeply unfair.” He said that Europe needs to become even stronger and more independent, while stressing there is “no interest in escalating a trade war.”“You just have to note that we are on the edge of a new world order, where having power has unfortunately become crucial, and we see a United States with an enormous condescending rhetoric towards Europe,” Marie Bjerre told Danish public broadcaster DK on Tuesday.Speaking on the sidelines of Davos, California Gov. Gavin Newsom slammed Europe’s response to Trump’s tariff threats as “pathetic” and “embarrassing,” and urged European leaders to unite and stand up to the United States.“It is time to get serious, and stop being complicit,” Newsom told reporters. “It’s time to stand tall and firm, have a backbone.”On Monday night, Greenland’s European backers looked at establishing a more permanent military presence in the High North to help guarantee security in the Arctic region, a key demand of the United States, Swedish Defense Minister Pl Jonson said.Jonson said after talks with his counterparts from Denmark, Greenland and Norway that European members of NATO are currently “doing what’s called a reconnaissance tour in order to identify what kind of needs there are when it comes to infrastructure and exercises and so forth.”In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov strongly denied any intention by Russia and China to threaten Greenland, while also describing Greenland as a “colonial gain” for Denmark. At a news conference, he said that “in principle, Greenland isn’t a natural part of Denmark.” US-UK tensions over Chagos Islands In another sign of tension between allies, the British government on Tuesday defended its decision to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius after Trump attacked the plan, which his administration previously supported.Trump said that relinquishing the remote Indian Ocean archipelago, home to a strategically important American naval and bomber base, was an act of stupidity that shows why he needs to take over Greenland.In a speech to lawmakers at Britain’s Parliament on Tuesday, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said he hoped to “calm the waters” as Trump roils the trans-Atlantic relationship with his desire to take over Greenlnd.Johnson said the U.S. and the U.K. “have always been able to work through our differences calmly, as friends. We will continue to do that.” AP writers Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Jill Lawless in London, Lorne Cook in Brussels, and Elaine Kurtenbach in Bangkok contributed to this report. Jamey Keaten, Associated Press
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E-Commerce
The blockchain is coming to Wall Street. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) said on Monday that it was developing a platform to trade tokenized securities, digital representations of assets like stocks and bonds. But exactly when the 233-year-old financial institution will turn it on is still up in the air. Supporters of the technology argue that the change could modernize the NYSE, giving traders some of the same advantages that are enjoyed by investors in the cryptocurrency world. But Wall Street stalwarts are wary of altering a system that has been the bedrock of securities trading for more than two centuries. Curious what the fuss is about? Here’s what you need to know about the advantages and disadvantages that this sort of trading could mean for your portfolio: What are tokenized securities? Tokenized securities are digital versions of stocks and bonds that are traded on the blockchain, rather than a brokerage account. People who opt to use this platform would be able to use stablecoinsa crypto that pegs its value to another asset like the U.S. dollarto fund their trades. The biggest shift to the platform, though, would be the introduction of 24/7 trading, much like Bitcoin investors currently enjoy. For more than two centuries, the NYSE has transformed the way markets operate, said Lynn Martin, president of the NYSE Group in a statement. We are leading the industry toward fully on-chain solutions, grounded in the unmatched protections and high regulatory standards that position us to marry trust with state-of-the-art technology. When will the NYSE launch the new tokenized platform? That’s still very much up in the air, but Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which owns the NYSE, is hoping to launch trades on the platform later this year. First, it will need to get regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Trump administration has been encouraging a shift to crypto-friendly policies, though, which could bode well for the platform’s chances. Why is the NYSE starting a tokenized platform? Put simply, competition. Trading platform Robinhood has already proposed its own network of stock tokenization. And fintech companies like Coinbase and Kraken have shown an interest as well. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs, Bank of New York Mellon, and State Street are all working on projects that would digitize money-market fund shares. The NYSE is hoping to maintain its leadership position in the stock market, and to do so, it needs to meet the demands of traders. Will the tokenized platform replace traditional stock trading? No. The tokenized securities platform will operate as a separate addition to the NYSE. Traditional trading will continue uninterrupted and the opening and closing bell will still ring at the start and stop of trading five days a week (minus holidays). What are the advantages of tokenized securities? Proponents of tokenized securities point to the advantages of 24/7 trading. Under the system, trades could be funded and settled in real time. (Currently, there is a one-day delay.) That, they say, could increase traders’ liquidity, make fractional ownership of companies easier to achieve. And because trading could happen at any time, the new platform could make the NYSE more accessible to retail (individual) traders. What are the risks of tokenized securities? As with almost anything on the blockchain, there is a danger of fraud. Some critics, including a handful of Democrats in Congress, have warned that companies looking to raise capital via tokenized securities could use the platform to scam investors. Others point out that the technology is new and still relatively untestedand given the inherent risks of investing, it could open the door to substantial losses for retail investors. Citadel Securities has urged the SEC to move slowly on the matter, saying there needed to be crystal clear rules for companies that want to tokenize their assets. And JPMorgan, in a note to investors last August, wrote that despite the hype, there’s very little interest in tokenized securities. This rather disappointing picture on tokenization also reflects traditional investors not seeing a need for it thus far, it wrote. There is also little evidence so far of banks or customers moving from traditional bank deposits to tokenized bank deposits on blockchains. Are other major markets embracing this sort of system? Last September, the Nasdaq market asked regulators to approve trading of tokenized versions of Nasdaq-traded stocks. Since doing so would require the SEC amend some of its rules, including the definition of a security, that request has not received a final response yet. Changes would also have to go through a comment period before they could go into effect, letting opponents explain what they object to.
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E-Commerce
Tuesday is the first trading day on U.S. stock markets since President Donald Trump escalated his threats over Greenland this weekend. The president threatened additional tariffs on allied countries that objected to his desired takeover of the Danish territory. The geopolitical uncertainty that has emerged appears to be behind a decline in stock futures, particularly in Big Tech stocks. And that fall has reignited concerns about a revived Sell America trade. Heres what you need to know. Whats happened? As Fast Company previously reported, over the weekend, President Donald Trump issued economic threats against eight allied nationsand NATO memberswho spoke out against the presidents desire to acquire Greenland, a territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. Trumps threats included additional tariffs he says will be levied against goods imported to America from eight countries: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The president said an additional 10% tariff will be levied on those countries’ goods from February 1, and that additional tariff rate will rise to 25% on June 1 and last until such time as a Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland, (sic). European leaders and the European Commission have reacted strongly to Trumps threats, repeatedly stressing that Greenland is not for sale and that allies dont threaten other allies with harsh economic consequences when one of them doesnt get their way. European governments are reportedly keen to resolve the situation diplomatically, but they are also considering a number of economic countermeasures should Trump go ahead with his plans to apply new tariffs on the stated nations. Countermeasures under discussion include retaliatory tariffs on American products entering Europe, as well as a never-before-used Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI). The ACI is a tool at the EUs disposal that could not only restrict trade with a target nation but also pause all investments in that nation and suspend intellectual property rights. Stock markets and Big Tech fall The geopolitical uncertainty Trump has raised with his Greenland escalation is keeping governments on both sides of the Atlantic on the edge of their seats. But they arent the only ones. Currently, investors appear to be in a state of major jitters due to the latest geopolitical hand grenade lobbed by Trump. As of the time of this writing, in premarket trading, Americas stock market futures are all down significantly across the board. This includes S&P futures, currently down 1.58%, Dow futures, currently down 1.38%, and Nasdaq futures, currently down 1.95%. And it’s not just the overall markets that are looking set to fall once the opening bell rings this morning. As of the time of this writing, Americas Big Tech companies are seeing their stock prices down across the board, including: Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL): down 1.22% Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN): down 2.93% Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOG): down 2.84% Meta Platforms (Nasdaq: META): down 2.58% Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT): down 1.73% Nvidia (Nasdaq: NVDA): down 2.45% Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA): down 2.65% Uncertainty or a revived Sell America trade? While U.S. markets were closed yesterday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, other assets traded as usual, including cryptocurrencies and precious metals like gold. Many major cryptocurrencies have fallen steadily since Trumps Greenland escalation over the weekend, while gold has reached all-time highs. But these moves arent surprising. The threat of America imposing economic retaliation on its NATO allies for refusing to relinquish Greenland to its possession generates a level of geopolitical uncertainty the world has not seen since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022. And such uncertainty almost always rattles investors, sending them fleeing from volatile assets like cryptocurrency to safe havens like gold. Yet what investors will be waiting to see today is whether the selloff in America’s Big Tech stocks is simply an ordinary, expected reaction we tend to see when geopolitical uncertainty arises, or whether it’s the beginning of a new Sell America trade. What is a ‘Sell America’ trade? The Sell America trade describes when global investors decide to sell off American assetslike U.S. stocks and bondseither to protect their profits from an economic downturn in the U.S. driven by geopolitical uncertainty, or as a punitive response to protest Americas actions they disagree with. Right now, its probably too early to tell whether Tuesdays premarket selloff in U.S. stocks is being driven by a renewed Sell America trade or whether it’s just a normal investor reaction to uncertain times. But expect to see much more speculation about the issue in the days ahead.
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E-Commerce
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