“Members of the European Parliament are poised to halt the process of approving a trade deal with the United States because of US President Donald Trump’s intention to impose new tariffs against countries that have supported Greenland in the face of US threats to take control of the island.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Ursula von der Leyen and Donald Trump in Thornberry, Scotland on July 27, 2025. Photo: Getty Images Source: Bloomberg
Details: The president of the European People’s Party, the largest political group in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber said on Saturday that a deal with the US was no longer possible.
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Weber’s direct speech: “The EPP is in favor of a trade agreement between the EU and the US, but given Donald Trump’s threats to Greenland, approval is not possible at this stage. Agreements to reduce tariffs on American goods must be put on hold.”
Details: The trade agreement that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen negotiated with Trump in the summer of 2025 has already been partially implemented, but needs final approval by the European Parliament.
The agreement called for a 15% US tariff on most goods from the EU in exchange for Brussels’ commitment to eliminate tariffs on US manufactured goods and some agricultural products. Von der Leyen agreed to these terms, trying to avoid a full-scale trade war.
An influential group of MEPs criticized the agreement from the beginning as “one-sided” in favor of the United States. This discontent only intensified after Washington, despite the July agreement, imposed 50 percent tariffs on steel, aluminum and hundreds of other goods from the EU.
The head of the European Parliament’s trade committee, Bernd Lange, said that work on the implementation of the agreement should be suspended until the threats from the US end.
Lange also called on the EU to use the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI), the EU’s most powerful mechanism to respond to economic pressure, which has never been used before. It allows you to introduce counter duties, new taxes on tech companies or restrict access to government procurement.
Members of the trade committee have already held initial discussions and plan to meet again in a week. Meanwhile, Danish deputy Per Clausen collected 30 signatures for a letter to the leadership of the parliament with the demand to “freeze” the agreement.
What preceded:
- On January 14, Trump made a demand to buy Greenland, calling it a strategic necessity for the United Statesand criticized European countries for sending a military contingent to defend the island.
- On Saturday, January 17, Donald Trump announced the introduction of a 10 percent duty from February 1 on goods from European countries that “united in support of Greenland”. The American president has also warned that he will raise the rate to 25% if an agreement is not reached on the “full purchase of Greenland” – the semi-autonomous territory of Denmark.
- European leaders have already criticized the ultimatum. Von der Leyen statedthat the tariffs would create a “risk of a dangerous downward spiral”, French President Emmanuel Macron called Trump’s threats “unacceptable”, and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson stressed that Europe “will not give in to blackmail”.