The European Parliament has again delayed a vote to approve a trade agreement reached with the United States in July of last year, citing renewed uncertainty stemming from a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on tariffs and subsequent reaffirmation by President Donald Trump of a potential 15% global tariff.
Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s International Trade Committee, stated on Friday that the decision to postpone the vote was prompted by the Supreme Court’s decision regarding reciprocal tariffs, followed by Trump’s reiteration of his intention to impose the blanket tariffs. “The situation is more uncertain than ever,” Lange said in a statement. “This directly contradicts the stability and predictability we aimed for with the Turnberry agreement last year.” He added that legislative function would be put on hold “until clarity, stability and legal certainty are re-established in the trade relationship with the U.S.”
The vote, originally scheduled for February 24th, is now indefinitely postponed. The Trade Committee plans to reassess the situation next week.
This marks the second time the European Parliament has stalled approval of the agreement. Last month, the Parliament initially suspended the process after President Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs on eight European nations in connection with a dispute over Greenland. The procedure was set to resume after Trump retracted the threat of additional tariffs and pledged not to pursue military options.
In July of last year, the EU and the U.S. Reached an agreement in Turnberry, Scotland, to reduce reciprocal tariffs on goods traded between the two entities from 30% to 15%. In exchange, the EU committed to investing $600 billion in the United States.
President Trump, via his social media platform Truth Social on Friday, warned that countries attempting to “game” the United States in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling would “face tariffs far higher than those in the recent agreement.”
The head of the EU parliament trade committee has expressed “doubts” about the deal with the U.S., suggesting it could be amended, according to reports from BNN Bloomberg.