The ratification of a trade agreement between the United States and the European Union has been suspended after the European Parliament opted to freeze a crucial vote, a direct reaction to President Donald Trump's intensifying threats to acquire Greenland.
Indefinitely postponing the vote on Wednesday, the Parliament's trade committee has thrown the future of the pact into serious doubt, according to individuals with knowledge of the decision.
This trade deal has been engulfed by the escalating crisis between the EU and the US concerning Greenland, a situation that has pushed the transatlantic alliance to the edge of a breakdown. Trump is currently threatening to impose tariffs on several European nations unless he is permitted to purchase the island, which is an autonomous Danish territory.
The threat of tariffs compelled EU lawmakers to re-evaluate a planned ratification vote on a trade agreement negotiated with Washington last July. This agreement established a 15% tariff on the majority of EU goods in return for a US commitment to eliminate all tariffs on American industrial goods and certain agricultural products. While partially in effect, the pact requires final approval from the Parliament to be fully implemented.
Initially, the concessions made by the EU were perceived as a strategic move to avert a full-scale trade war with the Trump administration and to preserve US security assurances for Europe amid Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.
However, President Trump's ultimatum regarding Greenland has amplified long-standing European criticisms that the agreement conceded too much, leading even its supporters to argue that final approval should be withheld for the time being. Trump has declared that a 10% tariff will be imposed on eight European countries starting February 1, escalating to 25% in June, if a deal for the "purchase of Greenland" is not reached.
The decision made on Wednesday was anticipated, following a proposal from senior lawmakers across the Parliament's largest political groups on Saturday to delay the vote in response to Trump's tariff announcement.
Manfred Weber, leader of the Parliament's largest group, the center-right European People's Party, stated on Wednesday that "for us as EPP, and I think for all parliamentarians, it's clear there will be no ratification, no zero percentage tariffs access to the EU for US products until we have clarified the question of reliability."
EU leaders are scheduled to convene in Brussels on Thursday to deliberate on their response to Trump's aggressive stance. Options being considered include retaliatory tariffs on €93 billion ($109 billion) worth of US goods and the potential deployment of the so-called anti-coercion instrument, which empowers the bloc to restrict investments into the EU and levy additional fees and tariffs.
"Europe prefers dialogue and solutions — but we are fully prepared to act, if necessary, with unity, urgency and determination," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the EU's top executive, informed EU lawmakers on Wednesday morning.
Even prior to Trump's provocations over Greenland, the EU-US trade deal faced a challenging path to approval in the Parliament. A faction of EU lawmakers had opposed the deal from its inception, and criticism intensified after the US extended a 50% tariff on metals to include hundreds of additional products. Subsequent US demands for changes to EU tech regulations in exchange for rolling back these expanded tariffs further incensed opponents.