No choice: EU threatens to halt approval of US trade deal over Trump's duties

The European Union has warned of its readiness to freeze the ratification process of the trade agreement with the United States and asked the administration of US President Donald Trump for further clarification on America's new duty policy, Bloomberg writes.

The EU-US agreement, among other things, envisioned 15% duties on most EU goods bound for the US, while removing tariffs on US manufactured goods imported into the bloc. The EU-US trade agreement was scheduled to be ratified by the European Parliament in March. The EU agreed to the disadvantageous conditions in the hope of avoiding a full-scale trade war with Washington and to maintain U.S. support in the security sector, Bloomberg points out.

However, on February 23, Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament's trade committee, called an extraordinary meeting to review the agreement, Bloomberg writes. Over the weekend, Lange noted that the Parliament should postpone work on the trade agreement between the EU and the U.S. until more clarity on the new U.S. duties. Later it was reported that the European Parliament postponed the vote on the trade agreement with the US. The discussion began in the EU days after the US Supreme Court overturned the duties imposed by Trump last April on imports to the US of goods from a dozen countries. Trump then said he had decided to raise the global duty rate on US imports first to 10% and then to 15%.

"We have no choice" but to postpone the ratification process of the agreement with the U.S. to get clarity on the duty situation, Zeljana Zovko, a member of the European Parliament and lead trade negotiator on the U.S. deal from the European People's Party group, said in an interview with Bloomberg.

To freeze the ratification process of the trade agreement with the United States, the center-right European People's Party (EPP), the largest faction of the European Parliament, will try to gain support from the Socialists and Democrats, as well as the liberal group Renewing Europe (Renew), Bloomberg notes. EU ambassadors will also meet on February 23 to discuss trade relations with the United States.

On February 23, European shares were down 0.4% at the daily minimum (such dynamics was shown by the pan-European stock index, including 600 largest companies from European countries, Stoxx Europe 600). At the time of publication, the Stoxx Europe 600 is down 0.15% against the last closing price.

Trump said he decided to raise the global duty rate on U.S. imports to 15% a day after the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 20 ruled the duties he imposed in April 2025 were unlawful. Trump's announcement on global duties left America's trading partners without answers to many questions, increasing economic turbulence and uncertainty around Washington's policies, Bloomberg notes.

In particular, the Supreme Court in the U.S. has not ruled on the return of duties already paid, leaving open the possibility of creating a "hole" of about $170 billion in U.S. finances, notes Reuters. In addition, Trump's "substitute, new duties" of 15% are only valid for 150 days, according to Chapter 122 (Section 122) of the Trade Act of 1974, then the US Congress will have to vote to extend them, The New York Times writes.

Moreover, it is still unclear who exactly will be subject to the new duty, Reuters points out. For example, goods from some countries, including the UK and Australia, were subject to a 10% duty rate under the previous US duty regime, while many Asian countries were subject to higher tariffs, the agency recalls.

The US administration was also urged by the European Commission on February 22 to adhere to the terms of the EU-US trade agreement, Reuters wrote. Brussels demanded "full clarity" from Washington on further steps and emphasized: "A deal is a deal."

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor