The European Union is threatening to temporarily halt the approval of a major trade deal with the United States. Doubts about President Donald Trump’s course are growing in Brussels. The European Parliament first wants to know in black and white what exactly the US trade policy will end up being.
According to the chairman of the trade committee, there is “pure customs chaos” in Washington. New and ever-changing import tariffs cause confusion. This puts the relationship between Brussels and the White House under renewed tension.
Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament’s trade committee, therefore wants to suspend ratification of the so-called Turnberry agreement. He puts that proposal on the table during an emergency meeting. According to him, parliament can only move forward if there is a thorough legal analysis and the United States makes clear and binding commitments.
New Trump tariffs create doubts in Brussels
Tensions are rising after the US Supreme Court struck down Trump’s use of emergency law to impose global reciprocal tariffs. Shortly after that statement, the president came up with a new plan.
Trump now wants to use Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act. This allows him to impose import duties for up to 150 days without approval from Congress. Initially he talked about a global rate of ten percent. A day later he increased that to fifteen percent.
This raises questions for the European Union. The Turnberry Agreement, which was concluded last summer between Trump and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, stipulates that most European exports to the US will be taxed with a tariff of fifteen percent. In return, American goods would enter the European market largely without tariffs. An import duty of fifty percent will continue to apply to European steel and aluminum.
Lange wonders whether the new American plans conflict with the agreements made. He emphasizes that legal certainty is first necessary before parliament takes further steps.
Fear of escalation and trade war
The EU concluded the agreement at the time to prevent a broad trade war and to stabilize the economic relationship with the US. The geopolitical situation also played a role, especially the war in Ukraine and dependence on American security guarantees.
The European Parliament wanted to formally approve the deal in the spring. That process was previously halted after Trump threatened to annex Greenland. Now the lack of clarity surrounding his tariff policy is once again causing delays.
The ongoing changes in US trade policy are creating growing uncertainty among companies and investors. As long as Washington does not provide clarity, doubts will continue to prevail in Brussels about the future of the trade relationship between the two economic superpowers.
Source: https://newsbit.nl/eu-bevriest-mogelijk-goedkeuring-handelsdeal-met-vs-na-tariefchaos-onder-trump/
