COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danish businesses are concerned about a possible trade conflict with the United States over Greenland, a major lobby group said on Thursday after business leaders, including CEO of obesity drugmaker Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO), met with the government.
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had summoned business leaders after speaking on Wednesday with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who last week refused to rule out military or economic action to take control of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark that is strategically important to Washington.
Trump suggested he would impose tariffs on Danish goods if it resisted his offer to buy the vast Arctic island.
"We are paying attention to what is happening and of course we are concerned," the head of the Confederation of Danish Industry, Lars Sandahl Sorensen, told journalists after the meeting.
Trump did not retract his threat of economic coercion during the 45-minute phone conversation with the Danish prime minister.
"I think everyone can see that these are unusual messages and we must of course deal with them," Minister for Trade and Industry Morten Bodskov said after the meeting.
He declined to elaborate on what scenarios were discussed. Asked how Denmark would respond to potential tariffs, Bodskov said: "We will deal with that, if it comes."
Danish businesses employ around 90,000 people in the United States, according to the minister.
DISCUSSIONS WITH BUSINESS LEADERS
Frederiksen said she had emphasized in her conversation with Trump that it was up to Greenland to decide its future and offered to do more to strengthen security in the Arctic.
She stressed that Danish companies contribute to growth and jobs in the United States and that the EU and the U.S. had a common interest in increased trade.
"We're not preparing for specific things we don't know yet, but it has been hinted at from the U.S. side that there may unfortunately be a situation where we work less together than we do today," Frederiksen told journalists earlier on Thursday.
Among business leaders in the meeting were Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, CEO of Novo Nordisk, which generates more than half of its sales in the United States.
Novo, which competes with U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), makes the main active ingredient in its popular obesity and diabetes injections Wegovy and Ozempic in Denmark, and exports it to the United States.
Other participants in the meeting included CEOs of jewellery maker Pandora (OTC:PANDY), Lego, brewer Carlsberg (CSE:CARLb), Vestas and offshore wind farm developer Orsted (CSE:ORSTED), the companies said.
($1 = 7.2515 Danish crowns)