European lawmakers on Wednesday suspended approval of a trade deal agreed in July between the EU and the United States.
Bernd Lange, chair of the INTA Committee on EU-US trade relations and a member of the European Parliament, said in a statement on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s recent plans to impose tariffs of 10% to 25% on European countries violate the terms of the trade agreement.
“I don’t think Trump has revised his position. He wants to make Greenland part of the United States as soon as possible,” Lange said Wednesday, referring to Trump’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
In his speech, the president called for “immediate negotiations” on territorial acquisitions in the Arctic.
President Trump ruled out the use of military force in his speech, which Lange described as a “small positive element.”
But Lange said the proposed 10% to 25% tariffs remained on the table, adding that “there is no possibility of compromise” until that threat is removed.
“We are suspending the process until we have clarity about Greenland and its threats,” he said.
Lange said Trump was “using tariffs as a tool of political pressure” to purchase Greenland, calling the move “an attack on the economic and territorial sovereignty of the European Union.”
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