EU officials have put a draft trade agreement with the US on hold as they wait for “clarity” on the new tariffs threatened at the weekend by US president Donald Trump. 

MEPs were due to vote on the so-called ‘Turnberry agreement’ — a deal concluded by Trump and EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen at Trump’s Turnberry golf club in Scotland — during a meeting of the parliament’s international trade committee on Tuesday (24 February).

But that has now been shelved. 

On Sunday, Bernd Lange, the German Socialists & Democrats (S&D) chair of the committee, said on X that “clarity and legal certainty are needed before any further steps are taken.” 

Lange added that he would propose “putting legislative work on hold until we have a proper legal assessment and clear commitments from the US side.” 

Lange’s stance was confirmed by other political groups.

For her part, Zeljana ⁠Zovko, the centre-right ‌European People’s Party’s lead negotiator ‌on the US deal, told Bloomberg News in an interview that the ‌EU has “no other option” but to pause ratification. 

After the US Supreme Court struck down president Trump’s global trade tariffs as being unconstitutional on Friday (20 February), Trump immediately responded by reintroducing a 10-percent tariff on all imports, which he has since increased to 15 percent. 

Trump last year introduced a raft of country-specific import duties for dozens of countries as part of his ‘America First’ agenda to promote US industry, which, he argues, has been undercut by imports. 

‘Chaos’

The new 15-percent tariff rate is the same as what was agreed by the EU and US last summer, but the row in Washington has already caused major uncertainty for the US’ trading partners. 

“Pure tariff chaos from the US administration,” was Lange’s verdict.

Aside from the headline 15-percent levy, the EU agreed to purchase €700bn of liquefied natural gas and nuclear fuels from the US by 2028, while a joint deal on steel and aluminium quotas was also promised (though the latter products are still subject to a 50-percent tariff). 

The 15-percent tariff and the deal in general were widely criticised by MEPs as being skewed in Washington’s favour. 

In its initial responses to Trump’s latest tariff actions, EU officials have said that the bloc expects the US to honour the commitments made in the Turnberry agreement. 

The commission’s trade spokesperson Olof Gill told reporters on Monday that the EU executive was waiting for “clarity from the US so that we can work out what happens next”. 

Gill added that the commission was aiming to “preserve stability” and provide “predictability for businesses in the face of some substantial instability.” 

The parliament had already promised to make a series of amendments to the Turnberry pact, including sunset and review clauses in the event that a broader trade deal with the US cannot be agreed, and guarantees on steel and aluminium. 

Elsewhere, EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič met with G7 trade ministers on Monday, while the implications of the US Supreme Court ruling and the new Trump tariffs were also on the agenda for EU ambassadors on Monday afternoon.