“At our extra meeting tomorrow, I will therefore propose to the EP-negotiating team putting legislative work on hold until we have a proper legal assessment and clear commitments from the U.S. side,” Lange said.
One day after the Supreme Court struck down his signature tariff policy, Trump on Saturday announced he plans a new global tariff rate of 15 percent, lifting the rate from 10 percent. To do so, he invoked Section 122 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose tariffs up to 15 percent to address a “large and serious balance-of-payment deficit,” which can remain in effect for no more than 150 days unless the U.S. Congress authorizes an extension.
The vote in the European Parliament, scheduled for Tuesday, is meant to confirm the institution’s position on a law that removes tariffs on U.S. industrial goods and lobster — a key plank of EU pledges under a deal struck at Trump’s Turnberry golf resort last summer.
The delay proposed by Lange will have to garner support among the EU’s political groups during an extraordinary meeting set for Monday afternoon.
The Greens, via their lead lawmaker on the file Anna Cavazzini, said: “The vote on the Turnberry Agreement in the European Parliament should be paused until we have clarity.”
“It was clear that Trump’s tariffs were illegal under international law. Now we also have confirmation that they were also illegal under U.S. law,” she said in a statement on Friday.