The European Parliament’s trade committee postponed a ratification vote on its trade deal with the United States on Monday, seeking clarification on how President Donald Trump’s newly announced 15% global import tariff would affect the agreement. Trump declared the tariff after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down his use of emergency powers to set new import taxes, and the European Union said the new rate would break the deal’s agreed ceiling of 15% on most European goods.
The move underscores the fragility of Trump’s trade agreements when executive authority is challenged in court. The EU, which negotiated the agreement to provide business certainty, now faces uncertainty as Trump pursues alternative legal authorities to enforce tariffs.
The European Parliament’s trade committee postponed a scheduled vote on ratifying a U.S.-European Union trade deal struck last summer, citing uncertainty about how President Donald Trump’s newly announced 15% global import tariff would affect the agreement. The vote had been planned for Tuesday.
The Summer Deal Under Threat
Trump announced the tariff Saturday after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked his use of an emergency powers law to impose import taxes. He invoked an alternative trade law to justify the new rate, which takes effect Tuesday. The move prompted European Commission spokesman Olof Gill to restate the EU’s position in just five words.
“A deal is a deal,” Gill said, adding: “So now we are simply saying to the US, it is up to you to clearly show to us what path you are taking to honor the agreement.”
The summer trade deal set a 15% cap on tariffs on most European goods entering the U.S., while eliminating tariffs on American industrial goods shipped to Europe. The agreement provided businesses on both sides of the Atlantic the certainty to plan long-term investments—a factor European officials credit with helping the region avoid a recession.
But Trump’s new global rate would be applied on top of the existing tariffs already in place, breaching the agreed-upon ceiling. Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s trade committee, said the new tariff structure would fundamentally alter the deal’s terms.
Bilateral Agreements Jeopardized
The tariff affects not just the EU trade agreement but also bilateral deals Trump negotiated with individual countries. Britain agreed to a 10% maximum tariff rate; India settled on 18%; Vietnam accepted 20%. Though the Supreme Court decision did not directly invalidate these agreements, they were negotiated under the assumption that the emergency-powers tariffs would remain in place.
Reopening these deals carries political risk. U.S. Trade Representative Jamison Greer signaled on Sunday that the administration would not retreat. “Whether we won or lost, there were going to be tariffs,” Greer said, noting that the administration had made clear to negotiating partners its intent to pursue tariffs under any available legal authority.
Winners, Losers, and Broader Uncertainty
The new global tariff regime creates winners and losers among U.S. trading partners. Under the flat 15% rate, Brazil faces a reduction of nearly 15 percentage points from its previous rate, while China sees a reduction of roughly 10 percentage points—potentially allowing these countries more favorable terms than they negotiated bilaterally.
The tariffs are scheduled to remain in effect for 150 days unless Congress votes to extend them, giving Trump time to pursue additional legal authorities that might support broader tariff powers.
The pause in EU ratification reflects broader uncertainty about trade policy in both Europe and the United States. European companies face the cost of not knowing whether their negotiated tariff rates will hold. American companies and consumers, in turn, bear the cost of import duties on goods sourced from abroad.
“Uncertainty around trade policy appears here to stay—putting continued pressure on the US economy,” said Atakan Bakiskan, U.S. economist at Berenberg bank.