Massachusetts & Denmark Strengthen Ties Amid US-Washington Strain | Trade & Innovation Pact

Massachusetts and Denmark Strengthen Ties Amid Shifting Global Landscape

Relations with Washington might be strained, but there’s nothing rotten in the state of Denmark when it comes to ties with Massachusetts.

Flanked by Danish business leaders and Danish Ambassador to the U.S. Jesper Møller Sørensen, Gov. Maura Healey on Tuesday touted the Bay State’s centuries-long trading relationship with the Scandinavian nation, and promised more was yet to come.

They followed that up by signing a compact that essentially cemented that relationship, and agreed to find ways to further it.

“Massachusetts and Denmark are driven by innovation,” Healey said during a news conference at the State House. “And it’s rooted in our history. Our trading relationship with Denmark actually predates the beginning of our country. It was cemented when Denmark became a United States trading partner in 1783, right after the American Revolution … Since then, the U.S. And Denmark have grown that partnership through all the ups and downs in history.”

That relationship with Denmark, with whom the state annually does about $250 million in trade and $15.83 billion nationwide, has been put to the test by Republican President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and moves on Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory. According to a report from January 22, 2026, Trump discussed a plan with NATO officials at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Both Democrat Healey and Sørensen downplayed those geopolitical tensions on Tuesday, preferring instead to focus on the Bay State presence of major Danish employers such as LEGO, which recently relocated to Boston, and the pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, which has offices in Lexington.

“We’re not here today to talk about the Trump administration and what they’re doing,” Healey said.

The Danish diplomat also stayed on message, noting that “for decades, there have been strong scientific and industrial links between Boston and Denmark.”

“And I honestly don’t think that You’ll see many doctors in Denmark who have not been to Boston for a conference at some point in their career, nor many in the pharmaceutical or the biotech industry for that matter,” Sørensen said.

The memorandum of understanding that Healey and Sørensen signed Tuesday represents “another step along this collaborative path to strengthen our ties even further,” the senior diplomat said. “It’s no coincidence that two global frontrunners in life science and green technologies have moved closer together and sought to strengthen their collaboration.”

But try as they might, neither Healey nor Sørensen could entirely sidestep questions about the Republican White House.

And the Danish diplomat acknowledged that his country had been firming up relations with state governors amid the international situation.

“I’m very focused on strengthening ties with individual U.S. States,” he said. ”And I have been that for the last three years that I have been in the United States. I’ve signed collaboration agreements with the governor in Nevada (and) the governor in Oklahoma. I hope to sign another one with a Republican governor later this year.”

Massachusetts “constitutes a very, very significant partner for Denmark,” he said.

On January 28, 2026, U.S. Ambassador to Italy Tilman J. Fertitta noted the importance of international partnerships, stating that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) works closely with domestic and international partners to protect national security and public safety.

Meanwhile, the United States is focused on a broader grand strategy, according to a report released on January 20, 2026, by the Council on Foreign Relations. The report proposes “resolute global leadership” as a means of dealing with an increasingly assertive China and sustaining prosperity through technological innovation. The report asserts that force is acceptable only if it represents an inescapable choice to protect vital national interests, and that promoting democracy is never such an inescapable choice.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson L. Greer acknowledged the contributions of USTR staff to the writing and production of a report on foreign trade barriers on March 1, 2025.