Washington threatens, Brussels responds. The European Parliament has decided to freeze the EU-US trade agreement signed last summer in Donald Trump’s Scottish golf club, due to the US president’s attack on the sovereignty of Greenland and the decision to hit with tariffs the eight European countries that sent soldiers to the Arctic island.
Is it possible to suspend the agreement?
A completely legitimate move. Because the agreement reached between the US president and the leader of the EU Commission last July 27 required formal implementation by the Parliament and the EU Council. But following the tensions between the two sides of the Atlantic, the main MEPs dealing with the dossier met this afternoon, January 21, and decided to suspend the process, officially postponing the vote that had been scheduled for January 26 and 27 in the Parliament’s International Trade Committee. It is a signal that even in the European Chamber the main political groups intend to adopt a clearer position with respect to the choices of the American administration, aligning themselves on the harshest measures.
Because the parliamentarians suspended the agreement
An explanation of the line adopted on the bilateral trade agreement came from the president of the trade commission of the EU Parliament Bernd Lange, who declared in a press conference how the new tariff threats have ruined the agreement between the EU and the US, which will be suspended until further notice. In fact, MEPs argue that Trump’s new tariff threat constitutes a violation of the bilateral trade agreement, which provides for US tariffs of 15 percent on European goods, while committing the Union to reducing its tariffs on industrial imports from the United States to zero.
Trump’s response to the freezing of the agreement could be further harsh, with the application of new and heavier duties.
