Trump's tariff threats over Greenland push EU to suspend trade vote

by · UPI

Jan. 21 (UPI) -- European Union lawmakers said Wednesday that approval of the trade agreement between the bloc and the United States is suspended until President Donald Trump's threats over Greenland end.

A vote had been scheduled for next week in the European Parliament's Committee on International Trade, also known as INTA.

In a statement, Bernd Lange, European parliament member and INTA chair on EU-U.S. relations, said that Trump's recent statements about raising tariffs by 10% to 25% on European countries goes against the agreement, CNBC reported.

Trump spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, and called for "immediate negotiations" on acquiring Greenland.

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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."

"We will prolong the procedure until there is clarity on Greenland," he told journalists.

Trump said he wouldn't use military force to take Greenland, which Lange said was a "small, positive element."

But Lange said "there will be no possibility of compromise" until the tariff threats are over.

"We will hold on the procedure ... until there is clarity regarding Greenland and the threats," he said. He called the threats "an attack against the economic and territorial sovereignty of the European Union."

Lange said the INTA would discuss the use of the EU's Anti-Coercion Instrument on Monday. The ACI is often called a "trade bazooka," which would allow the EU to restrict U.S. companies' access to its market, block them from bids, reduce the flow of goods and capital, and curb foreign direct investment in the EU.

"This was created exactly for such a case when a foreign country [uses] tariffs and investment for political and coercive pressure," Lange said.

Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel told CNBC that he hoped Trump would change his plans, calling the EU-U.S. tensions a "very problematic situation."

Nagel said the tariff issue could "maybe" change monetary policy in the eurozone, which he said was on "a good path."

"I still have the hope that we can find a solution, a joint understanding," Nagel added.

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President Donald Trump holds a list of his accomplishments as he joins the White House press briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on Tuesday. The day marked the one-year anniversary of Trump's second inauguration. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo