After US President Donald Trump’s softened tone over Greenland at the World Economic Forum in Davos, European Union lawmakers are likely to vote on ratifying the bloc’s trade deal with the US and restart the process as Trump made a U-turn on tariff threats on European allies that opposed his plans to annex Greenland.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said on Thursday that Trump’s reversal was enough to justify voting on the measure, which could have a preliminary vote in the coming days. Parliament’s approval is the final EU step needed for the trade accord to enter into force, Bloomberg reported.
What EU said on unfreezing the trade deal
“This means we can continue with our discussions internally with he EU-US trade deal, which had been paused,” Metsola was quoted as saying. “I’ll be taking it forward with my colleagues to be able to proceed.”
The trade deal was clinched last July and partially implemented. Many in Europe criticized the accord, which saw Brussels agree to remove nearly all tariffs on American products while accepting a 15% duty on most exports to the US and 50% on steel and aluminum.
US-EU trade deal freeze and Trump’s U-turn on tariffs
Wednesday was quite an eventful day as the The European Parliament put a trade deal between the United States and the European Union on hold and decided to freeze the ratification vote indefinitely for the trade deal in response to Trump’s repeated threats over seizing Greenland.
Chair of European Parliament’s trade committee Bernd Lange in a statement said America is “undermining the stability and predictability of EU-US trade relations” by “threatening the territorial integrity and sovereignty of an EU member state and by using tariffs as a coercive instrument.”
Lange added that owing to this, EU was “left with no alternative but to suspend work” on the trade deal, according to Bloomberg. The chairperson further stated that the work would not move forward “until the US decides to reengage on a path of cooperation rather than confrontation.”
Hours later, Trump defused the situation, saying he wouldn’t impose the tariffs, which were set to go into effect on February 1.
Trump announced on Truth Social that the US had ‘formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic region’. This came after a ‘productive meeting’ with NATO chief Mark Rutte, Trump announced.
“Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st,” he said, adding, “Additional discussions are being held concerning The Golden Dome as it pertains to Greenland. Further information will be made available as discussions progress. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and various others, as needed, will be responsible for the negotiations — They will report directly to me. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he wrote on his Truth Social account on Wednesday.
EU likely to unfreeze US trade deal as Trump softens tone on Greenland
