The European Parliament agreed to suspend the ratification process for the U.S. trade deal in response to President Donald Trump’s threats to tariff eight countries for opposing the American acquisition of Greenland.
In the first major response to President Trump’s moves to force the concession of Greenland to American control, European lawmakers from the largest blocs in Strasbourg, including the Social Democrat (S&D) and European People’s Party (EPP), said on Tuesday that there is a “majority agreement” to put the EU-U.S. trade deal on hold, France’s Le Figaro reported.
A major accomplishment for the first year of the second Trump presidency, the deal would see a 15 per cent tariff placed on European imports to the United States while reducing tariffs on American goods flowing to Europe to zero.
However, potentially upending the deal, Mr Trump announced on Saturday that the United States would place an additional 10 per cent tariff on Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom after they all announced troop deployments to Greenland in apparent defiance of Washington’s push to acquire the Arctic territory.
The leader of the EPP, Manfred Weber, said on Tuesday that blocking the trade deal was a “very powerful tool”. Over the weekend, the influential MEP said that his party is in favour of the deal, “but given Donald Trump’s threats regarding Greenland, approval is not possible at this stage. The 0 per cent tariffs on U.S. products must be put on hold.”
The decision to suspend the deal comes after EU Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen attempted to stress the importance of abiding by the agreement during his address to the World Economic Forum on Tuesday in Davos.
“The European Union and the United States have agreed to a trade deal last July,” she said. “And in politics as in business – a deal is a deal. And when friends shake hands, it must mean something.”
Von der Leyen went on to suggest that Europe must seek “independence” from the United States in security and economic matters. The EU chief claimed that the recently signed EU-Mercosur trade deal in South America demonstrated that “the world is ready to choose Europe”.
Others have advocated for a stronger response to Trump, including French President Emmanuel Macron, who argued that the EU should invoke the anti-coercion “trade bazooka” against the United States, which could impact up to €93 billion ($108 billion) of American goods.
Also appearing before the WEF in Davos on Tuesday, President Macron complained that American “competition” was aimed at “weakening and subordinating Europe” and said that France rejects any “new colonial approach”.
He said that the tariffs were “fundamentally unacceptable – even more so when they are used as leverage against territorial sovereignty”.
Tensions rose between Paris and Washington after Macron refused an offer to join President Trump’s “peace board” to oversee Gaza. In response to the apparent snub, Mr Trump said that he would consider raising tariffs on French wine up to 200 per cent and mocked Macron as a lame duck leader whom “nobody wants” anymore.
While the French leader has taken one of the most aggressive lines in public over the issue of Greenland, perhaps cognisant of the fact that his so-called coalition of the willing mission planned for a post-peace deal Ukraine will require the United States military to act as their ultimate protector, Macron appeared to strike a more consiliatory tone in private.
In a text message leaked by Trump on his Truth Social platform, Macron invited the President to dinner in Paris and wrote: “My friend, we are totally in line on Syria. We can do great things on Iran. I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland. Let us try to build great things.”
President Trump spoke to Davos on Wednesday and said the U.S. is the only country in a position to secure Greenland, but that the U.S. wouldn’t take it by force.
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