Quick overview

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European Union lawmakers are prepared to halt approval of the EU’s trade agreement with the US because President Donald Trump promises to impose tariffs on nations that backed Greenland in the face of US threats.

 

The president of the largest political party in the European Parliament, the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber, declared on Saturday that a deal with the United States is no longer achievable. Weber wrote on social media, “The EPP is in favor of the EU-US trade deal, but approval is not possible at this stage given Donald Trump’s threats regarding Greenland.”. The EU agreement to reduce tariffs on “US products must be put on hold,” he continued.

The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, and Trump negotiated the EU-US trade deal last summer; it has already been partially implemented but still requires parliamentary approval. EPP lawmakers will likely have enough votes to postpone or prevent approval if they join left-leaning political organizations. In exchange for the EU’s promise to remove tariffs on US industrial goods and certain agricultural products, the trade agreement set a 15 percent US tariff on the majority of EU goods. In an effort to prevent a full-scale trade conflict with Trump, von der Leyen, who is in charge of EU trade negotiations, struck the agreement.

The agreement has long been criticized by a vocal group of EU lawmakers who claim it was too biased in favor of the US. Since the US extended a 50% tariff on steel and aluminum to hundreds of other EU goods following the July agreement, that resentment has grown. Last month, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer chastised the EU for failing to implement certain parts of the agreement.