The European Parliament has taken definitive action by suspending the US trade agreement ratification, responding to President Trump’s threat of 10% tariffs conditional on European support for his Greenland acquisition. This decision marks the strongest material response Brussels has delivered against what European leaders have termed blackmail tactics.
Trade committee chairman Bernd Lange established unequivocal terms for future negotiations, insisting that threats involving Greenland must end before any possibility of compromise exists. The suspended deal would have provided American exporters with zero-percent tariffs on many industrial products entering European markets.
Despite the trade deal freeze, the EU’s $750 billion energy purchase commitment remains fully intact. Lange confirmed this energy arrangement operates separately from the tariff negotiations, allowing Brussels to preserve energy cooperation while taking a principled stand.
The diplomatic chill became visible when Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, modified her post-parliamentary schedule, returning directly to Brussels to coordinate emergency summit preparations.
Brussels’ willingness to subordinate a multi-billion dollar trade relationship to political autonomy demonstrates a fundamental hierarchy in European values. The suspended trade deal represented substantial commercial opportunities worth billions in facilitated trade, yet European leaders chose to sacrifice these economic benefits rather than submit to political coercion. This decision establishes that no amount of commercial benefit can compensate for compromised political independence. The Thursday summit will examine whether to reinforce this message through €93 billion in counter-tariffs and market access restrictions.