Manfred Weber, leader of the European People’s Party (EPP), has threatened to put the Turnberry Agreement with the United States to a plenary vote if negotiations are not concluded this week, while the U.S. has made it clear: “A deal is a deal.”
Last summer, the U.S. and the European Union reached the trade and customs deal at President Trump’s Turnberry golf club in Scotland, eliminating tariffs on hundreds of American agricultural and industrial products. Since then, Trump has accused the EU of not holding up its side of the deal, hiking tariffs on cars and trucks to 25 percent last week. The EU, in turn, has accused D.C. of violating the agreement on its end, with many in the EU saying Trump cannot be trusted.
Another issue is that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to invalidate the Turnberry Agreement, leaving many in the EU wondering if the deal gives them any real protections or assurances at all.
Part of the deal made last July called for the EU to erase tariffs on U.S. industrial goods in exchange for a 15 percent tariff ceiling on most European products, which Trump’s latest move would violate.
Now, with both sides getting antsy and almost a year having passed since the original agreement, Weber has put forth an ultimatum. “If the trilogue this week does not produce a result, then we, as the EPP, will simply put [Turnberry] to a vote,” Euractiv quotes Weber.
“Europe must show that it can implement what it has signed,” he added.
Unfortunately, there continue to be voices of dissent, with many in the European Parliament seeking to attach several conditions, including a “sunrise clause” that would tie the agreement to a reduction in U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, and a “sunset clause” would also be included in the agreement, meaning it would only be valid until March 2028.
“Without a strong negotiation result, there is no majority behind a weak agreement in the European Parliament,” notes chief negotiator Bernd Lange.
Karin Karlsbro, a member of Renew, scoffed at Weber’s proposal for an accelerated vote, telling Euractiv: “It is not serious by the EPP to rush to a vote on an agreement that lacks support in the European Parliament due to pressure from the U.S.”
Meanwhile, the European Council is said to favor the European Commission’s original proposal, with fewer conditions, signed by EC president Ursula von der Leyen with Trump last summer, although Trump’s latest move has created tensions, as it is seen to be in breach of that deal.
In the wake of Trump’s auto tariff hike, the European Commission president told press that the EU is in “the final stages of implementing the remaining tariff commitments, but the U.S. must also remain committed to its agreed tariff ceilings.”
EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič was in Paris yesterday to discuss the matter with his American counterpart, Jamieson Greer. He had “called for a swift return to the agreed Turnberry terms, i.e., a 15% all-inclusive tariff rate, with the agreed carve-outs for the EU,” according to an EU commission spokesperson quoted by The Edge Singapore.
According to Politico, those talks failed.
Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador to the EU, Andrew Puzder, has posted to X that Trump’s approach is simply, “enough is enough.”
“Nobody should have been surprised by Trump’s tariff announcement on 1 May. U.S. officials had repeatedly warned European counterparts that the trade deal approval was taking too long to finalize. Let’s work together and quickly implement the trade deal as agreed to by Presidents Trump and von der Leyen last July at Turnberry. A deal is a deal,” he wrote on X.
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