It is not certain that MEPs will move forward even though Trump has withdrawn his tariff threat
Lawmakers in the European Parliament have refused to renew ratification of a key trade deal with the US, which was suspended last week over a dispute over Greenland.
A decision on whether to unfreeze the Turnberry deal has been postponed until next Wednesday, trade committee chairman Bernd Lange said after a closed-door debate on Monday. Lange cited lingering uncertainty about NATO “framework” for US access to the Danish autonomous island and its mineral resources, easing but not resolving tensions with Washington.
After a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte last Wednesday, US President Donald Trump withdrew his threat of trade tariffs against countries opposed to his bid to claim Greenland. Responding to earlier pressure from Trump, lawmakers delayed ratification of the trade deal originally presented by Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Turnberry, Scotland.
Opinions differed among those at the meeting on whether there was agreement to move quickly or to take a tougher stance that could provoke Trump. Some reportedly urged the European Commission to prepare to activate the anti-coercion tool – dubbed “business bazooka” – if the conflict flares up again.
The Trump administration has used coercion and threats of military action to advance US foreign policy goals, including against US allies. In a recent escalation that coincided with the World Economic Forum in Davos, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told a gathering of global elites in Switzerland that the U.S.-led “Rule-Based Order” it always was “partially false” and to which the western states agreed “living a lie” on “to avoid trouble.”
Russia has long claimed that the military and economic dependence of Western European countries on Washington undermines their sovereignty. Moscow has distanced itself from the dispute over Greenland, describing it as a matter between the US and its NATO members.
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