BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) – After the court defeat for US President Donald Trump’s customs policy, the chairman of the trade committee in the EU Parliament, Bernd Lange, wants to suspend the implementation of the customs deal with the USA. Lange said that no one knows whether the United States will be able to stick to the agreements that have been made.
“Before further steps can be taken, we need clarity and legal certainty,” demanded the SPD MEP. He therefore wants to propose the suspension to the responsible negotiating team in the EU Parliament at a special meeting on Monday.
In the summer, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Trump agreed that a maximum tariff of 15 percent should not be exceeded for most EU imports to the USA. The legally binding agreement subsequently drawn up with the USA still has to be approved by the EU Parliament.
The EU has long feared higher tariffs than agreed
After a decision by the US Supreme Court against his tariff policy, Trump announced a global tariff rate of 10 percent on imports into the USA on Friday – and followed up on Saturday with a new global tariff rate of 15 percent. Trump is referring to a trade law from 1974. This allows, under certain conditions, tariffs to be levied on imports for up to 150 days.
Lange told “Wirtschaftswoche” that the tariff rate announced by Trump on this legal basis broke the agreement. These tariffs would be in addition to those already deposited with the World Trade Organization (WTO). “If the tariff rate set there is already 10 percent, a total of 25 percent will now be levied,” he said./tre/DP/zb