The European Parliament puts the brakes on the trade deal with the US due to Trump's new threats.

BrusselsThe European Union (EU) already made concessions in the trade agreement reached last summer with the United States and accepted a tariff of up to 15% on products it exports to the US. However, Donald Trump is not satisfied and, after the US Supreme Court struck down his tariff increases, he has upped the ante and announced an additional increase of this tax of 15%Also on the EU blog. A new threat has led European institutions to halt the processing of the agreement signed last July between Brussels and Washington.

The European Parliament has once again postponed the vote to ratify the EU-US trade agreement, which was scheduled for this Tuesday. This is not the first time the European Parliament has made this decision. Following Trump's threats to invade Greenland and raise tariffs on member states again, the Parliament has already opted to delay its approval of the controversial pact on more than one occasion. It seemed that with Trump's reversal of his ambitions regarding the Arctic island, the European Parliament would finally give its approval this Tuesday. At the last minute, however, the US president has made another U-turn and restarted the trade war.

The chairman of the European Parliament's Trade Committee, Bernd Lange, has announced that the majority of MEP groups have expressed their support for postponing the vote due to the "uncertainty" prevailing in the White House. "Nobody knows what will happen, and therefore it is unclear whether the United States will implement new measures and respect the agreement signed [in Scotland this summer]," the Social Democratic representative pointed out during Monday's plenary session of the Trade Committee.

However, Lange reiterated that the European Parliament is by no means shelving the ratification of the agreement or ruling out its approval in the future. In fact, the Chairman of the European Parliament's Trade Committee advocated for the pact's approval, especially to provide "stability" for investors and markets, but stressed that "it is essential that both parties respect it." In this regard, the MEP explained that the European Parliament will reassess the situation next week and, depending on the context, will decide whether to put the trade agreement to a vote or postpone it again.

Brussels is pressuring Trump to respect the pact

Beyond the European Parliament, the European Commission and member states are also watching closely what the White House will do next. The EU's trade spokesperson, Olof Gill, insisted at Monday's press conference that "a deal is a deal" and that he therefore expects the Trump administration to honor the agreement reached last summer. However, Brussels is not ruling out any options and admits that it cannot make any new decisions until it receives "more clarity" from the United States. "When we know exactly what the implications of the US Supreme Court ruling are and what measures they intend to implement, we will have the clarity we need to conduct a proper analysis and make the next decisions," the European Commission's trade spokesperson added. Meanwhile, member states have also called an emergency meeting this afternoon to assess the US Supreme Court ruling and Trump's renewed threats. No decision is expected, and everything suggests that, in line with the European Commission and the European Parliament, the Council of the EU will avoid taking any false steps before knowing for certain which path the White House occupant will take.