The European Parliament on Wednesday halted its work on a trade agreement between the 27-member European Union and the United States, according to a lawmaker, after US President Donald Trump’s continuous call for US control of Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.
The Parliament’s trade committee on Wednesday delayed the vote indefinitely, raising questions about whether the agreement will ever be finalized.
When is trade deal work expected to resume?
In a statement, according to BloombergBernd Lange, chair of Parliament’s trade committee, stated, “By threatening the territorial integrity and sovereignty of an EU member state and by using tariffs as a coercive instrument, the US is undermining the stability and predictability of EU-US trade relations.”
Lange added, “We have been left with no alternative but to suspend work” on the trade agreement “until the US decides to reengage on a path of cooperation rather than confrontation”.
Manfred Weber, the leader of Parliament’s largest political group, the center-right European People’s Party (EPP), said on Wednesday that there would be no ratification of the agreement and no tariff-free access to the EU for US products until concerns over reliability get resolved, a position he said was shared broadly across Parliament.
The proposed deal has become entangled in the escalating dispute between the EU and the United States over Greenland, a standoff that has pushed transatlantic relations close to breaking point. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on several European nations unless he is permitted to purchase the island, which is a Danish territory.
Trump’s tariff threat over the weekend led EU lawmakers to rethink a planned ratification vote on the US trade agreement concluded with Washington last July. Under the deal, most EU exports would face a 15% tariff, while the bloc committed to eliminating all duties on US industrial goods and certain agricultural products. Although parts of the agreement have already taken effect, it still requires approval from the European Parliament to be fully enacted.
At the time it was negotiated, the EU’s concessions were widely viewed as an attempt to head off an all-out trade conflict with Trump and to preserve US security commitments to Europe as Russia continued its war in Ukraine.
However, the US president’s ultimatum over Greenland has intensified long-standing European criticism that the agreement was overly generous, even leading some supporters to argue that final approval should now be delayed. Trump has said a 10% tariff will be imposed on Feb. 1 on goods from eight European countries, increasing to 25% in June, unless he secures an agreement for the “purchase of Greenland”.
Meanwhile, EU leaders are set to meet in Brussels on Thursday to consider how to respond to what they describe as Trump’s aggressive stance. Measures being weighed include retaliatory tariffs on €93 billion ($109 billion) worth of US products, as well as potential use of the so-called anti-coercion instrument, which would enable the bloc to restrict investment into the EU and levy additional fees and tariffs.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the EU’s chief executive, told EU lawmakers on Wednesday morning that “Europe prefers dialogue and solutions — but we are fully prepared to act, if necessary, with unity, urgency and determination.”
