U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, in this photo released by the Associated Press. (Yonhap)
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, in this photo released by the Associated Press. (Yonhap)

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday canceled a plan to impose tariffs on eight European countries that oppose his push to acquire Greenland, following a meeting with North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Mark Rutte.

He earlier announced a plan to impose a 10 percent tariff on goods from Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and Finland on Feb. 1, saying that the levies would rise to 25 percent on June 1 if a deal was not struck for America's "complete and total" purchase of Greenland.

"Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region. This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations," he wrote on Truth Social.

"Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st," he added. (Yonhap)