To break the deadlock in the European Parliament’s negotiations on the trade agreement between the EU and the United States, the EPP group has put forward, in recent days, a proposal for a ‘sunrise clause’, whereby the EU’s commitments would come into force on condition that the United States confirms that the new customs duties do not exceed the 15% cap agreed in the summer of 2025.
The idea was raised at a meeting in Strasbourg, on Tuesday 10 March, between the rapporteurs for EU-US relations on the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) and the team of EU Commissioner for Trade, Maroš Šefčovič. The aim of the meeting was to provide “greater clarity” so that negotiations could resume in Parliament on the two regulations that would allow tariffs on a series of US products to be reduced or removed (see EUROPE 13821/20).
The US Supreme Court’s ruling of 20 February to invalidate the tariffs previously applied, and President Donald Trump’s subsequent decision to impose a 10% surtax on all imports, with certain exceptions, have once again raised doubts.
While the European Commission wants to comply with the terms of the agreement with the United States, which was reached in the summer of 2025 (see EUROPE 13816/6), the S&D, Renew Europe, Greens/EFA and The Left parliamentary groups remain sceptical.
According to our information, the EPP’s proposal for a ‘sunrise clause’ has not been warmly received by these groups.
Speaking to the press, the Chair of the Renew Europe group, Valérie Hayer, pointed out that the agreement with the United States was “unbalanced”, that it had provided “neither stability nor predictability”, and that questions remained unanswered about the practical implications of the US Supreme Court ruling.
The EPP group’s spokesperson on international trade, Jörgen Warborn (Swedish), who attended Tuesday’s meeting in place of the EPP rapporteur on the agreement, Željana Zovko (Croatian), nevertheless pointed out that he had not heard any other ideas for breaking the deadlock in the negotiations.
Speaking to Agence Europe, he said that “unfortunately, some people seem to be more anti-Trump than pro-European”, referring to the European businesses and workers who would suffer greatly if a trade war were to break out with the United States.
Speaking to the press, the group’s Chair, Manfred Weber, supported this ‘sunrise clause’ as a means of ensuring compliance with the summer agreement and maintaining “stable” relations.
A further meeting of the INTA Committee rapporteurs will be held on 17 March to decide whether to hold a vote in committee on 19 March, followed by a vote in plenary on 26 March, according to an indicative timetable. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)