'Left with no alternative': EU freezes US trade deal over Greenland threat

The European Parliament's trade committee was set to decide its stand on the deal on January 26-27, but the vote has now been postponed

A proposed trade deal between the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) has been put on hold after the European Parliament decided to freeze a ratification vote. The move follows repeated threats by US President Donald Trump to seize Greenland, a Danish territory.

 

The European Parliament’s trade committee was expected to set its position on the deal during votes scheduled for January 26-27. However, the process has now been postponed.

 

What the trade deal includes

 

The deal, agreed in Turnberry, Scotland, at the end of July, involves major tariff changes. The EU has been debating plans to remove many import duties on US goods. It also includes continuing zero tariffs on US lobsters, a measure first agreed with Trump in 2020.

 

Under the agreement, most EU goods entering the US would face a 15 per cent tariff. In return, the EU agreed to remove all tariffs on American industrial products and some agricultural items.

 

While parts of the deal have already been implemented, it still needs approval from the European Parliament and EU governments to become final.     

 

Greenland dispute strains US-EU ties

 

The trade deal has become entangled in a broader dispute between the EU and the US over Greenland. Trump’s ambition to take over the island has caused sharp tensions between the long-time allies.

 

Earlier, Trump threatened to impose tariffs on several European countries unless he was allowed to buy Greenland. These warnings triggered strong reactions from the 27-member EU bloc.

 

However, on Wednesday, Trump withdrew the tariffs he had threatened to impose on eight European nations. He said the decision followed an agreement with the Nato chief on a “framework of a future deal” on Arctic security.

 

What Parliament’s trade committee said

 

Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s trade committee, said that the US actions had left lawmakers with little choice.

 

“By threatening the territorial integrity and sovereignty of an EU member state and by using tariffs as a coercive instrument, the US is undermining the stability and predictability of EU-US trade relations,” Lange said in a statement.

 

“We have been left with no alternative but to suspend work” on the trade deal, “until the US decides to re-engage on a path of cooperation rather than confrontation,” he was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.     

 

Lawmakers question US reliability

 

Manfred Weber, leader of Parliament’s largest bloc, the centre-right European People’s Party, said ratification was unlikely without clarity from Washington.

 

“For us as EPP, and I think for all parliamentarians, it’s clear there will be no ratification, no zero percentage tariff access to the EU for US products until we have clarified the question of reliability,” Weber said on Wednesday.

 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also issued a warning to Washington. Addressing EU lawmakers earlier, she said, “Europe prefers dialogue and solutions, but we are fully prepared to act, if necessary, with unity, urgency and determination.”

 

(With agency inputs)