One of the safeguards foresaw a six-month review of the deal to ensure that tariffs on products containing steel were lowered to the baseline level. The second would have revoked the deal if Trump again threatened the EU’s territorial integrity, as he did when he proposed to annex Greenland in January.
Cavazzini, a German MEP, said: “The top priority must be to find a solution for the remaining 50 percent tariffs on steel, aluminum, and derivatives. The ball is now in the U.S.’s court. Tariffs are extremely unpopular and have not led to the industrial jobs promised by Trump.”
Croatian MEP Zovko, whose party favors the Turnberry deal, said MEPs should still hold a plenary vote to implement it next month. “If we stick to the deal, we can at least demand something from the Americans,” she said.
Confirming the delay, Bernd Lange, the chair of the trade committee, said: “Business as usual is not an option.” Senior trade lawmakers, known as shadow rapporteurs, will meet again next week to reassess the situation, the German Social Democrat added in a statement.
Only once the Parliament adopts a position would it be possible to hold talks with the other branches of the EU — the Commission and the Council representing its 27 member states — to finally implement the EU’s side of the bargain. This would mainly entail scrapping duties on U.S. industrial goods.
EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič dialed into a call of G7 trade ministers on Monday and said afterwards, in a post on X, that full respect for the EU-U.S. deal “is paramount.” He was also due to brief ambassadors from EU member countries on Monday and EU lawmakers on Tuesday, Olof Gill, the Commission’s deputy chief spokesperson, said earlier.
