European lawmakers have indefinitely suspended work on a long-negotiated trade agreement with the United States, deepening tensions after President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs tied to his push for U.S. control of Greenland.
The decision was made Wednesday by senior members of the European Parliament handling the agreement, halting the legal ratification process just days before a scheduled committee vote. The move effectively freezes the EU-U.S. trade deal reached last summer, often referred to as the Turnberry agreement, until further notice.
European Parliament trade committee chair Bernd Lange confirmed the decision publicly, writing: “
Now official: EU-US deal is on hold until further notice! Our negotiating team just decided to suspend work of @ep_trade on the legal implementation of Turnberry deal. Our sovereignty and territorial integrity are at stake. Business as usual impossible #Greenland #tariffs”
Lange later told reporters the process would remain paused “until there is clarity on Greenland,” adding that Trump “did not seem to have revised his position” following his appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos. In a separate statement, Lange said, “Given the continued and escalating threats, including tariff threats, against Greenland and Denmark, and their European allies, we have been left with no alternative but to suspend work” on the deal. He added that progress would not resume “until the US decides to re-engage on a path of cooperation rather than confrontation.”
The suspension followed renewed tariff warnings from Trump, who said the U.S. would impose a 10% levy starting Feb. 1 on imports from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and the United Kingdom. The rate would rise to 25% by June unless “a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland”. Trump, speaking in Davos, ruled out military action but stood by his economic pressure campaign. “We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be, frankly, unstoppable. But I won’t do that,” he said.
EU lawmakers view the tariff threats as a violation of the political understanding reached in July, when both sides agreed to cap most U.S. tariffs on EU goods at 15% while the bloc committed to cutting tariffs on U.S. industrial imports to zero. Some categories, including generic pharmaceuticals, were set to become tariff-free. At the time, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the deal “creates certainty in uncertain times … In politics as in business, a deal is a deal. When friends shake hands, it must mean something.”
The dispute comes as EU leaders prepare for an emergency meeting Thursday to coordinate a response. Options under discussion include retaliatory tariffs and possible activation of the bloc’s Anti-Coercion Instrument—often dubbed the EU’s trade “bazooka”—which would allow sweeping restrictions on U.S. goods, services and investments. France and Germany have publicly raised support for using the mechanism, which has never been deployed.
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