European Parliament Set To Resume Work On US Tariff Deal

BRUSSELS, Feb 5 (Bernama-dpa) -- The European Parliament is set to resume work on implementing the EU–US tariff agreement following a de-escalation in the dispute over Greenland, reported German news agency dpa.

The parliament’s trade committee could adopt its position at a meeting on February 24, its chair, Bernd Lange, said on Wednesday.

A vote by the full parliament could then take place in March.

The deal reached in July provides for duty-free imports of US industrial goods into the European Union. In return, the US agreed to cap tariffs on most EU imports at a maximum of 15 per cent.

In January, US President Donald Trump announced punitive tariffs of 10 per cent eight European countries. He sought to use the measure to pressure Denmark into selling Greenland to the United States. In response, the European Parliament put work on implementing the tariff agreement on hold.

After talks last month with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump withdrew the threat.

European lawmakers now want to include an emergency clause in the deal's legal texts, abolishing EU tariffs on US products. This would allow the "application of the agreement to be suspended at any time if European interests, security or territorial integrity are threatened," Lange, a German politician from the centre-left Social Democrats, said.

After the full parliamentary vote, further talks will be held with EU member states. Both sides will then still need to formally approve the tariff reductions.

--BERNAMA-dpa