The European Union’s legislative body has halted the formal approval and implementation of a trade deal reached last summer with Donald Trump, citing escalating threats against Greenland, Denmark, and their European allies.
Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament’s international trade committee, said on Wednesday that “given the continued and escalating threats, including tariff threats, against Greenland and Denmark, and their European allies, we have been left with no alternative but to suspend work” on the agreement. He added that no steps would be taken to advance the deal “until the US decides to re-engage on a path of cooperation rather than confrontation.”
In a post on X, Lange stressed that “our sovereignty and territorial integrity are at stake,” saying the current situation makes “business as usual impossible.”
The move follows Trump’s announcement last Saturday that he would impose tariffs on seven EU countries, as well as the UK, if they did not allow the United States to control Greenland.
The EU-US trade deal, agreed in July during European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to Trump’s Turnberry golf club in Scotland, included a 15 percent cap on US tariffs for most EU imports, among the lowest rates offered to any trading partner last year. Certain EU goods, including generic pharmaceuticals, were set to be tariff-free. In return, the EU agreed to lower tariffs on selected American products, supporting US agricultural and industrial exports.
Transatlantic trade remains significant, valued at about $1.5 trillion annually in goods and services as of 2024. The US imports more than $600 billion in EU goods each year, while Europe buys over $360 billion worth of American products.
Speaking in Davos on Tuesday, von der Leyen expressed disappointment over the developments, saying, “In politics as in business, a deal is a deal. When friends shake hands, it must mean something.” Although Trump later said the US would not use force to seize Greenland, he did not withdraw the threat of imposing a 10 percent tariff from February 1.
Lange described Trump’s comments on military action as “a small positive element,” but warned that tariff pressure in the 10 to 25 percent range marked “a new quality of relation.” As long as those threats remain, he said, “there will be no possibility for compromise.”
EU leaders are due to meet on Thursday to coordinate their response, which could include retaliatory tariffs worth up to $110 billion on US exports such as Boeing aircraft, soybeans, and Kentucky bourbon. Another option under consideration is activating the bloc’s Anti-Coercion Instrument, allowing the EU to impose wide-ranging restrictions on US goods and services in Europe.
