The European Parliament has again postponed the implementation of the trade agreement between the United States and the EU.
On Monday, the chair of the Committee on Trade, Bernd Lange (SPD), announced that the vote scheduled for Tuesday on the US agreement would be delayed. “We ultimately want to vote, but we need clarity first” he added.
The background is the new global tariffs of 15 percent announced by US President Donald Trump. They were a response to the White House’s decision after the Supreme Court declared Trump’s use of a national‑security exemption for his so‑called “reciprocal tariffs” unlawful worldwide.
Trump threatened on Monday that he would impose “significantly higher tariffs and worse” on any country that “played games” with the U.S. in light of the “laughable decision” of the Supreme Court.
Last year, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President Trump agreed that the maximum tariff for most EU imports into the United States should not be exceeded. The legally binding accord must still be approved by the European Parliament, and a vote was originally planned for Tuesday. Lange has now announced a meeting of the members for the following week to conduct the vote.