The European Union has paused talks on a proposed trade deal with the United States after President Donald Trump announced fresh tariffs on several European countries, linking the move to his renewed push to acquire Greenland. The decision has put last year’s EU–US trade truce under strain and raised fresh uncertainty over transatlantic economic ties.
The European Union has paused negotiations on a proposed EU–US trade deal after President Donald Trump announced fresh tariffs on Denmark and several other European countries, linking the move to his renewed push to acquire Greenland.
The decision has cast doubt over last year’s transatlantic trade truce, signed in July by Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The agreement was aimed at stabilising trade ties by keeping US tariffs on EU goods at 15 percent, while the bloc agreed to drop duties on American exports.
Greenland dispute derails momentum
Momentum behind the deal stalled after Washington escalated pressure on Europe over Greenland. Trump announced an additional 10 percent tariff on European countries that sent troops as part of a small deployment to the Arctic island this week. He said the levy would rise to 25 percent from June 1 and remain in place “until a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland”.
European leaders said the troop deployment followed Trump’s own warnings about increased Russian and Chinese activity in the North Atlantic and was not intended to provoke Washington.
Reacting to the move, European Council President Antonio Costa warned that the EU would deliver a “joint response” if the tariffs remain in force.
European Parliament halts ratification
Inside the European Parliament, political groups moved quickly to halt ratification of the trade deal. European People’s Party president Manfred Weber said lawmakers could not support an agreement while tariffs were being used as leverage over Greenland.
“The EPP supports an EU–US trade deal, but under the current circumstances approval is not possible. Zero-tariff treatment for US products has to be paused,” Weber said in a post on X.
Siegfried Murean, an MEP involved in the process, said the vote had been imminent before relations deteriorated. The July agreement was meant to cut EU tariffs on American imports to zero.
“We were meant to ratify the EU–US trade deal very soon. Given the new context, that decision will have to wait,” he wrote.
Calls for retaliation grow louder
Others urged Brussels to prepare for retaliation. Karin Karlsbro, Renew Europe’s coordinator on trade, said Parliament would not give the green light this week and warned that the EU must be ready to respond to Trump’s tariff pressure.
“I see no possibility for the European Parliament to move forward with the tariff agreement when we take a decision on Wednesday,” Karlsbro told Politico. “Instead, the EU must prepare to respond to President Trump’s tariff attacks.”
She said the bloc could not rule out retaliatory tariffs or the use of the Anti-Coercion Instrument — often referred to as the “bazooka” — which allows the EU to impose restrictions on investment, public procurement and intellectual property protections against countries using economic pressure.
Von der Leyen warns of damage to ties
With tariffs now directly linked to Trump’s Greenland push, EU lawmakers warned that a deal meant to calm trade tensions was becoming another casualty of them.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen cautioned that the new tariffs risk damaging transatlantic relations. “Tariffs undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral,” she said, stressing that Europe would uphold its sovereignty and remain united.
She reaffirmed the EU’s support for Denmark and Greenland, saying the bloc stood “in full solidarity” with both, and underlined that territorial integrity and sovereignty are core principles of international law.
Von der Leyen added that the EU remains committed to dialogue and to continuing discussions initiated last week between the Kingdom of Denmark and the United States.
Deal at risk amid tariff escalation
The dispute threatens to unravel the July agreement, under which the EU also pledged to purchase $750 billion worth of US energy and increase investments in the United States by $600 billion. At the time, Trump had described it as “the biggest deal ever made”, while von der Leyen said it would bring stability and predictability to EU–US trade relations.
Trump said the new 10 percent tariffs would take effect on February 1 and apply to Denmark, Sweden, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands. In a post on Truth Social, he said the measures would remain until a deal was reached for the “complete and total purchase of Greenland”, arguing that the US had long subsidised Europe by not imposing tariffs.
Calling Greenland critical to US national security, Trump has repeatedly said Washington needs control of the island, warning that “world peace is at stake” and citing alleged interest from China and Russia.
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