Did Denmark announce a "500% tariff on exports of Ozempic to the USA" in January 2025? No, that's not true: The claim derived from a parody post on LinkedIn that lacked such a label. No credible media outlets reported the purported news.
The claim originated from a post (archived here) on LinkedIn, where it was published in early January 2025. It opened:
Press Release: Denmark's Weighty Response to Trumps's Greenland Threats - Tariff on Ozempic, Discounts for Canada
This is what it looked like on LinkedIn at the time of writing:
(Source: LinkedIn screenshot taken on Fri Jan 31 19:15:00 2025 UTC)
The post read:
COPENHAGEN - Denmark has taken a bold step in response to Donald Trump's fantasy of annexing Greenland. In a move sure to raise blood sugar levels, the Danish government announced a 500% tariff on exports of Ozempic to the USA. At the same time, Canada will get a 50% discount on the popular diabetes and weight-loss drug, because why not reward politeness?
The decision comes as Trump's latest musings about turning Greenland into 'the next Mar-a-Lago.' Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen minced no words:
'Greenland is not for sale, but Ozempic is--for a hefty price in the U.S. While we love our American friends, it's time they understand sovereignty isn't negotiable, even if they're paying in Big Macs.'
Turning Up the Pressure--and the Scales.
Ozempic (archived here), a diabetes medicine known for its weight loss properties, is produced by the Danish company Novo Nordisk. The drug is widely prescribed in the United States (archived here).
The entry on LinkedIn reviewed in this article was published shortly after President Donald Trump, then still president-elect, promised in early January 2025 to "tariff Denmark at a very high level" (archived here) if it doesn't allow the U.S. to annex or acquire Greenland (archived here), which is presently an autonomous Danish territory.
The post's tone showed a significant deviation from the typically dry language of official government announcements, suggesting some form of parody or satire. However, no such labels were added to spell that out. Furthermore, other entries on social media mentioning the purported "500%" tariff on Ozempic -- for example, here (archived here) -- showed that some appear to have mistaken the proclamation on LinkedIn for an official press release of the Danish government.
As of January 31, 2025, Lead Stories found no evidence corroborating the claim.
The post on LinkedIn attributed the purported announcement to Denmark's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, its website showed no such press release published in 2025:
(Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark screenshot taken on Fri Jan 31 20:56:16 2025 UTC)
Furthermore, it didn't even mention Ozempic:
(Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark screenshot taken on Fri Jan 31 21:08:31 2025 UTC)
The Ministry's Trade Council (archived here), tasked with offering "up-to-date advisory support and expertise to Danish companies" selling their products abroad, said nothing about export tariffs on Ozempic as of this publication:
(Source: The Trade Council screenshot taken on Fri Jan 31 21:15:51 2025 UTC)
A search across news websites indexed by Google News showed zero articles corroborating the claim:
(Source: Google News screenshot taken on Fri Jan 31 21:21:04 2025 UTC)
Lead Stories also searched key phrases from the press release on Google and Google News, such as, "the Danish government announced a 500% tariff on exports of Ozempic to the USA," "Greenland is not for sale, but Ozempic is--for a hefty price in the U.S. While we love our American friends, it's time they understand sovereignty isn't negotiable, even if they're paying in Big Macs" (archived here) and "Canadians already have universal healthcare and low obesity rates" AND "Why not throw in cheaper Ozempic, eh" (archived here).
No results supported the authenticity of the press release. The search results are shown below:
(Source: Lead Stories screenshot taken Fri Jan 31 22:59:27 2025 UTC)
Read more
Other Lead Stories fact checks of the claims concerning international stories can be found here.
Lead Stories articles mentioning Europe are here.
