The postponement of negotiations in the European Parliament on the EU-US agreement on tariffs in the summer of 2025 appears to have been confirmed: on Tuesday 20 January, the chairs of the main political groups reiterated their call for the EU to stand firm in the face of fresh intimidation from US President, Donald Trump. Opinions differed, however, on the targeted trade response measures.
“The United States will not get 0% customs tariff access to the European single market”, confirmed EPP President, Manfred Weber. However, he said it was necessary to “remain calm, so as not to aggravate the situation”.
In his view, jeopardising the summer agreement (see EUROPE 13694/15) in this way is already sufficient leverage to get the United States to return to a “reliable” approach.
“We must not aggravate the situation with additional measures at this stage”, he insisted.
This position, like the one the European Commission seems to be following at present, is not firm enough, according to the Greens/EFA, S&D, Renew Europe and The Left groups. They called for the use of the tools available to the EU, such as activation, by the Commission, of the anti-coercion tool, paving the way for a series of trade countermeasures (see EUROPE 13789/2).
Terry Reintke (German), Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA, believes that the introduction of a tax on digital services should be considered in this context, “since the US tech oligarchs fear this”, as well as strengthening the DSA (Digital Services Act).
According to two other parliamentary sources, it is also necessary to take a critical look at the ‘digital omnibus’, which aims to simplify European legislation in this area, under pressure from the Trump administration and GAFAM.
Martin Schirdewan (The Left, German) believes that the EU must also “make it clear that it will not buy polluting US shale gas and that it is committed to energy independence”.
A call to activate the EU’s anti-coercion tool “without delay” was also made by the Chair of the Patriots for Europe, Jordan Bardella (French), with “measures targeted at US services and exports”.
“Either we react with the necessary firmness, or we are doomed to disappear in the face of ever-stronger imperial logics”, he insisted.
Freeze on the trade agreement. A discussion is still scheduled for Wednesday 21 January between the rapporteurs of Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) to formalise the freezing of negotiations on the summer agreement (see EUROPE 13786/6).
A majority of the Parliament’s so-called “pro-democracy” political groups in favour of this suspension quickly emerged, following Donald Trump’s “trade blackmail”, on Saturday 17 January, against eight European countries that had joined a military exercise to protect Greenland (see EUROPE 13789/2).
The new threat of additional 10% tariffs on these countries has irritated European leaders and parliamentarians from a wide political spectrum.
The weekend’s news was followed, on Monday 19 January, by a new announcement: a possible 200% surcharge on French wine, in response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s refusal to join the US ‘Board of Peace’ initiative (see EUROPE 13789/23).
The ECR goes against the tide. Only the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) said that freezing the initial trade negotiations with the United States would be “a mistake”.
“This agreement is not optimal for us, but it is advantageous for both parties. It would be contrary to our interests to interrupt it”, said the Chair of the group, Nicola Procaccini (Italian), at a press conference.
As part of the July 2025 horizontal agreement, a 15% tariff was to be applied to all European imports into the United States in exchange for lower customs tariffs on certain US products.
In order to honour this part of the agreement, the European Parliament still had to vote on the two regulations governing this reduction (see EUROPE 13762/15). A vote in Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) was due to take place in the week of 26 January. This will no longer be the case. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)