The main parliamentary groups in the European Parliament (EP) announced today that the ratification of the trade agreement with the US is being postponed, following US President Donald Trump's threats of tariffs due to the dispute with EU countries over Greenland, the French newspaper Le Monde reports.
The agreement was signed in July last year by Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
"It's an extremely powerful tool, I don't think (American) companies would agree to give up the European market," said Valerie Heyer, president of the group Rebuild Europe.
Late last week, this decision was announced by the President of the European People's Party (EPP), Manfred Weber.
He said that escalating tensions between the US and Europe meant that parliament would not vote for the agreement, which sets US tariffs on EU imports at 15 percent in exchange for the EU not applying tariffs on US exports.
"The EPP is in favour of an EU-US trade agreement, but given Donald Trump's threats regarding Greenland, approval is not possible at this stage. Zero percent tariffs on US products must be put on hold," Weber said.
The Vice-President of the European Socialists and Democrats for Trade, Kathleen van Brent, joined calls for the use of the Anti-Coercion Instrument.
"It is simply outrageous that Donald Trump is using tariffs and economic threats to impose an illegitimate territorial claim... If this is not coercion, then what is," Van Brent said in a statement.
Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on six EU countries, including France and Germany, for refusing to support a plan for the US to take control of Greenland.
The call for the use of the EU's Anti-Coercion Instrument, the so-called "trade bazooka", was also joined by French President Emmanuel Macron.
He said today at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the European Union "should not hesitate" to implement it.
"The instrument against coercion is powerful and we should not hesitate to apply it in today's difficult environment," Macron said in Davos.
The EU introduced the Instrument in 2023 in response to China's use of trade restrictions against Lithuania and Norway and earlier pressure from the US.
It contains a wide range of measures, including restrictions on access to the EU market, including goods, services, foreign direct investment, public procurement, financial markets, export controls and more.
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