European lawmakers have suspended their approval of a trade agreement reached with President Trump over the summer due to his push to acquire Greenland.
Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament’s international trade committee, stated that “Given the continued and escalating threats, including tariff threats, against Greenland and Denmark, and their European allies, we have been left with no alternative but to suspend work.”
The announcement followed Trump’s assertion on Saturday that he would impose tariffs on seven European Union countries and the United Kingdom if they did not permit U.S. control of Greenland.
The trade deal was finalized in July during a visit by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Trump’s golf club in Turnberry, Scotland.
The core of the agreement included a cap on U.S. tariffs for most EU imports at 15%, one of the lowest rates imposed on any trading partner last year. Some EU goods, including generic pharmaceuticals, would have faced tariff elimination.
In exchange, the European Union would have reduced tariffs on selected American exports, aiding U.S. agricultural and industrial firms in selling their products within the bloc.
Lange declared: “We have just decided to suspend work by the committee on the legal implementation of the Turnberry Deal. Our sovereignty & territorial integrity are at stake. Business as usual impossible.”
Trump claimed at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland that “It’s the United States alone that can protect this giant mass of land,” and stated he was seeking immediate negotiations to re-discuss Greenland’s acquisition.
Trump ruled out military force during his speech, a point Lange described as “a small positive element.” However, Lange noted that proposed tariffs ranging from 10% to 25% remain on the table until the threats subside, adding that “there will be no possibility of compromise” until clarity emerges regarding Greenland and the threats.
Lange further stated that Trump was “using tariffs as an instrument of political pressure” to acquire Greenland, calling the move “an attack against the economic and territorial sovereignty of the European Union.”
The committee will discuss on Monday the use of the EU’s Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI), a measure capable of restricting U.S. companies’ access to the single market, blocking them from tenders, reducing goods and capital flows, and curbing foreign direct investment in the bloc.