European lawmakers have delivered a strong rebuke to President Trump’s unorthodox negotiating tactics by suspending ratification of a landmark US trade agreement. The decision follows Trump’s threat to impose 10% tariffs on European exports unless the EU supports his ambitions to acquire Greenland, a move Brussels views as unacceptable political coercion.
The suspension represents the most concrete action the European Union has taken against what multiple leaders described last week as blackmail diplomacy. Bernd Lange, heading the parliament’s trade committee, drew a firm line in the sand, declaring that threats regarding Greenland must end before any possibility of compromise can be explored on the trade deal.
The blocked agreement had been set to revolutionize transatlantic commerce by eliminating tariffs on a wide range of industrial goods exported from America to Europe. However, European officials emphasized that the separate $750 billion energy purchase commitment remains unaffected by the ratification freeze, demonstrating strategic selectivity in their response.
Signs of deteriorating diplomatic relations extended beyond the parliamentary chamber when Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, cancelled her planned detour to Davos where Trump was attending the World Economic Forum. Instead, she rushed back to Brussels to orchestrate preparations for an emergency summit focused on contingency planning.
The Thursday evening gathering of European leaders will examine a menu of potential responses, including imposing €93 billion in counter-tariffs on American goods and deploying an unused anti-coercion mechanism. This nuclear option could bar US businesses from accessing European markets, potentially targeting everything from Silicon Valley tech firms to Boeing aircraft or American agricultural products, though officials recognize such measures could burden European consumers.