US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned European nations on Monday against retaliatory tariffs over President Donald Trump's threatened levies to obtain control of Greenland.

"I think it would be very unwise," Bessent told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

He said Trump wanted control of the autonomous Danish territory because he considers it a "strategic asset" and "we are not going to outsource our hemispheric security to anyone else".

Asked about Trump's message to Norway's prime minister, in which he appeared to link his Greenland push to not winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Bessent said: "I don't know anything about the president's letter to Norway."

He added, however, that "I think it's a complete canard that the president will be doing this because of the Nobel Prize".

Trump said at the weekend that, from February 1, Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden would be subject to a 10-percent tariff on all goods sent to the United States until Denmark agrees to cede Greenland.

The announcement has drawn angry charges of "blackmail" from the US allies, and Germany's vice chancellor Lars Klingbeil said Monday that Europe was preparing countermeasures.

Asked later Monday on the chances for a deal that would not involve acquiring Greenland, Bessent said "I would just take President Trump at his word for now".

"How did the US get the Panama Canal? We bought it from the French," he told a small group of journalists including AFP.

"How did the US get the US Virgin Islands? We bought it from the Danes."

Bessent reiterated in particular the island's strategic importance as a source of rare earth minerals that are critical for a range of cutting-edge technologies.

Referring to Denmark, he said: "What if one day they were worried about antagonising the Chinese? They've already allowed Chinese mining in Greenland, right?"