The European Union is planning to stop, for now, the approval of its new trade deal with the United States. Lawmakers require more information from President Donald Trump’s administration about its new tariff plan. As reported by Bloomberg, the main political groups in the European Parliament said they will pause work on approving the deal. This decision comes after the US Supreme Court blocked President Trump from using emergency powers to put tariffs on many countries around the world.
Lawmakers want clear answers
Zeljana Zovko, who is leading trade talks for the European People’s Party (EPP), said there is no other choice but to delay the process until there is more clarity.
The EPP, which is the largest political group in the European Parliament, will be joined by other major groups such as the Socialists & Democrats and the liberal Renew group in supporting the delay.
Bernd Lange, head of the Parliament’s trade committee, has called for an urgent meeting to review the EU-US trade deal again. He said the Parliament should wait until it understands the new US tariffs better before moving forward.
Confusion over new US tariffs
After the court decision, President Trump announced a 10% global tariff. He later increased it to 15%. This move has created confusion and uncertainty among US trading partners, including the EU. Many questions remain about how the new tariffs will work and what they will mean for trade between the EU and the US.
Details of the deal
The trade deal was agreed on last summer between President Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Under the agreement, most goods exported from the EU to the US would face a 15% tariff. In return, the EU would remove tariffs on American industrial goods. However, the US would continue to charge a 50% tariff on European steel and aluminum.
The EU accepted this uneven deal to avoid a bigger trade conflict with the US and to keep strong security ties, especially concerning support for Ukraine.
This is not the first time the European Parliament has paused the approval process. Lawmakers had earlier stopped work on the deal after President Trump made comments about annexing Greenland. The Parliament had originally planned to approve the trade deal in March, but that timeline is now uncertain.