The European Union (EU) has suspended the process of formally approving the trade agreement concluded with US President Donald Trump, following his threats to introduce tariffs related to his aspirations towards Greenland.
Bernd Lange, the chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade, said that because of threats to Greenland, Denmark and their European allies, the EU had no choice but to suspend work on the agreement.
“Given the continued and escalating threats, including threats of tariffs against Greenland and Denmark and their European allies, we had no choice but to suspend operations,” Lange said.
He added that no step to advance the agreement would be taken “until the US decides on cooperation, not confrontation.”
“Our sovereignty and territorial integrity are under threat,” Lange said in a post on the X social network, adding:
“Business as it was until now has become impossible”.
The decision came after Trump said on Saturday that seven European Union countries, along with the United Kingdom, would be hit with tariffs if they did not allow the United States control of Greenland.
The trade agreement was reached in July during a visit by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Trump’s golf club in Turnberry, Scotland.
The heart of the deal was to cap US tariffs on most EU imports at 15 percent, one of the lowest rates received by any trading partner last year.
Some imports from the EU, such as generic drugs, were supposed to be completely duty-free.
In return, the European Union, the largest trading partner of the USA, would reduce tariffs on certain products imported from the United States of America, which would support American agricultural and industrial companies in selling their products.
