U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (not pictured) after announcing the trade deal between the United States and the European Union in Turnberry, Scotland, England, on July 27, 2025.
Evelyn HochsteinReuter
The United States is violating the terms of its trade deal with the European Union and the EU stands ready to retaliate if necessary, a top EU trade lawmaker told CNBC.
Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament’s international trade committee, told CNBC on Tuesday: “We really wanted stability and predictability. And unfortunately, the government, the president of the United States, has actually violated this agreement many times.”
After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs, the president responded by announcing new tariffs that imposed a flat 10% tariff on all imports. President Trump said Saturday he would raise the tax rate to 15%, but the timing remains unclear, and the levy took effect at 10% early Tuesday.
European officials expressed concern about the latest levy, suggesting it could threaten the trade deal signed with the United States last summer.
The European Parliament announced on Monday that it had suspended work on ratifying the US-EU trade deal, while seeking clarity from the White House on whether it still stands.
The agreement imposed a basic tariff of 15% on most EU goods imported into the United States, but also included exemptions for certain sectors. Other products, such as steel and aluminum, and their “derivatives” are taxed at a higher rate of 50%.
Lange said the EU was ready to honor its commitments in the 2025 trade deal, but the U.S. had already changed its position on the deal “several times” due to tariff changes and risks, including in January when President Trump threatened to impose higher levies on European countries that support Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland.
“We’re sticking to the deal. A deal is a deal, there’s no question about it. But on the U.S. side, a few weeks after the deal was signed, it was broken and 400 products, so-called derivative products, were raised from 15% to 50%, and that’s really hurting a lot of small and medium-sized businesses in Europe,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”
“Then we had an exercise in Greenland, and now we have this $15+ tariff. So this is a clear reversal on the part of the United States, several times over. And this is not certain,” he said.
“We need clarity, and this is my clear request to the U.S. government to give us confidence that there will be no other irritations from new tariffs from the U.S. for the next three years, and then we will stick to the deal.”
Are you ready for the “bazooka”?
The US has sent mixed messages over whether trade agreements, such as those with the EU and UK, will remain in effect under the new tariff regime.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamison Greer appeared to suggest over the weekend that the president’s trade policy has not fundamentally changed and that the agreement remains in place.
But European officials want immediate clarity on the issue, with French officials urging the EU to consider using the Anti-Coercion Act (ACI) as a retaliatory measure if necessary.
Bernd Lange, Member of the European Parliament’s S&D Group and Chairman of the International Trade Committee, holds a press conference on EU-US trade negotiations at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on July 9, 2025.
Jean-Christophe Verhagen | AFP | Getty Images
The ACI is seen as a core option for economic countermeasures, as the EU could restrict US suppliers’ access to the EU market, exclude them from participating in regional public tenders, impose import and export restrictions on goods and services, and potentially impose restrictions on foreign direct investment into the region.
Several European countries, particularly exporting countries such as Germany and Italy, generally oppose the use of trade “bazookas”, and they have never been used.
Lange said the EU remains willing to use the ACI if necessary, but would not call it a “bazooka”.
“I don’t call it a bazooka…It’s a regular law that depends on specific cases, and when a country uses tariffs, trade policy, investment policy as a coercive tool, we use it (ACI),” Lange said.
“It doesn’t seem like we’ve been given a case (for use) at this point, but we have it on the table and we’ll use it if we need to,” he said.
President Trump on Monday warned that the Supreme Court’s ruling would increase obligations for countries that want to “play the game.”
He said additional levies would be imposed in the coming months. As of this writing, a 10% tariff is in effect.
