A third electoral bloc in the European Parliament has reportedly said it will stop the ratification of the EU-US trade deal next week. The statement came as US President Donald Trump announced an additional 10 percent tariff on eight European countries over the takeover of Greenland.
According to The Guardian, the centre-right and largest group, the European People’s Party (EPP), and the second-largest bloc of MEPs from the Socialists and Democrats group said they would delay the parliamentary legal process on Wednesday.
Now the Liberal group Renew has said it will join them.
French MEP and head of the group Valerie Heyer said in a statement: President Donald Trump’s threats to impose increased tariffs on states that refuse to agree to his plan to annex Greenland are unacceptable.
“These announcements follow many other aggressive actions against the EU. Therefore, now is the time to move from reliance to deterrence. As a result, Renew Europe cannot vote on the EU-US Turnberry trade deal,” Heyer said.
Heyer added: “…the EU should be prepared to implement targeted and proportionate countermeasures. The activation of the EU counter-coercion tool should be explicitly considered, as it was designed precisely for situations of economic intimidation of this nature.”
Meanwhile, Manfred Weber, head of the European People’s Party (EPP), the biggest electoral bloc at the institute, said “approval is not possible” in light of recent events.
“The EPP is in favor of a trade deal between the EU and the US, but due to Donald Trump’s threats regarding Greenland, approval is not possible at this stage. 0% tariffs on US products must be suspended,” Weber said.
The second largest electoral bloc, the Socialists and Democrats (S&Ds), supported the remarks. Together they represent 324 of the 720 seats in parliament and are expected to be supported by the Greens and other groups.
Kathleen Van Brempt, S&Ds vice-president of business, was quoted by The Guardian as saying “there can be no trade deal under the circumstances”.
In addition, German MEP Bernd Lange, who chairs the EU Parliament’s influential trade committee, said: “Given the threat of an additional 10% tariff from February 1, I cannot imagine that we will continue as usual and I assume that we will interrupt our ongoing work.”
He continued: “There is no doubt in my mind that this is another new step by which the US side is not complying with the Scottish agreement.
“We have already debated extensively in Parliament about our commitment to the agreement and were skeptical about whether we can produce US products duty-free if there is absolutely no confidence on the other side of the Atlantic that the agreement will be respected. We will discuss this issue again with political groups on Wednesday,” he told The Guardian.
EU-US trade agreement
The agreement entered into force last year in the US and tariffs of 15% were imposed on imports from the EU. But much to Trump’s chagrin, it has yet to be ratified by the European Parliament, which has already sought amendments.
According to Reuters, many lawmakers have previously complained that the trade deal with the US is lopsided, with the EU having to cut most import tariffs while the US sticks to a broad 15 percent rate.
But freezing the deal risks angering Trump, which could lead to higher US tariffs. The Trump administration has also ruled out any concessions, such as reducing tariffs on spirits or steel, until a deal is struck, the report added.