EU plans to halt trade agreement with US over Trump’s tariff threats
18 January 05:11
The European Parliament believes that the trade agreement between the EU and the US no longer has any prospects and plans to halt the ratification process. This position was formed after US President Donald Trump’s statements about tariffs for opponents of the purchase of Greenland.
This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Bloomberg.
Manfred Weber, president of the European People’s Party (EPP), the largest political force in the European Parliament, said on Saturday that approval of the trade agreement with the US is currently impossible.
“The EPP supports the idea of a trade agreement between the EU and the US, but given Donald Trump’s threats related to Greenland, its approval is impossible at this stage. Agreements on reducing tariffs on American goods should be put on hold,” the agency quotes Weber as saying.
According to Bloomberg, the trade agreement that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reached with Trump in the summer of 2025 has already been partially implemented, but requires final approval by the European Parliament.
The document provided for the introduction of a 15% US tariff on most goods from the EU in exchange for Brussels’ commitment to abolish tariffs on American industrial products and certain types of agricultural goods. Von der Leyen agreed to these terms in an attempt to avoid a full-scale trade war between the parties.
At the same time, an influential group of MEPs criticized the agreement from the outset, calling it one-sided and beneficial to Washington. The discontent only intensified after the US, despite the agreements reached in July, imposed a 50% tariff on steel, aluminum, and hundreds of other goods from the EU.
Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade, said that work on implementing the agreement should be suspended until the US withdraws its threats.
In addition, Lange called on the European Union to apply the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI), the EU’s most powerful mechanism for responding to economic pressure, which has never been used before. This instrument allows for the introduction of mirror tariffs, additional taxes on technology companies, or restrictions on access to public procurement.
Members of the European Parliament’s Trade Committee have already held initial consultations and plan to meet again in a week. Meanwhile, Danish MEP Per Clausen has collected 30 signatures on a letter to the parliament’s leadership demanding that the agreement with the US be “frozen.”
Recall that Donald Trump said that from February 1, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Finland will pay a 10% tariff on all goods supplied to the US. From June 1, these duties are planned to be increased to 25%. According to the head of the White House, the restrictions will remain in force until an agreement is reached on the “complete and final purchase of Greenland.”
