Hugh Leask – CNBC.com
European lawmakers on Wednesday suspended the approval of the trade deal that the European Union and U.S. agreed in July.
Key Points
- European lawmakers have put on hold their approval of the trade agreement reached between the EU and the U.S. in light of President Donald Trump’s push to annex Greenland.
- Bernd Lange, chair of European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade, said the committee would also discuss the possible use of the bloc’s anti-coercion ‘trade bazooka’.
- Earlier, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel told CNBC he was hopeful of a solution to the “very problematic situation.”
European lawmakers on Wednesday suspended the approval of the trade deal that the European Union and U.S. agreed in July.
In a statement Wednesday, European Parliament member Bernd Lange, and INTA chair on EU-US trade relations, said the recent plans by President Donald Trump to impose tariffs of between 10% and 25% on European nations go against the terms of the trade pact.
Referring to Trump’s address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Lange said: “I guess he didn’t revise his position. He wants to have Greenland as part of the United States as quick as possible.”
In his speech, the president called for “immediate negotiations” on the acquisition of the Arctic territory.