EU may freeze US trade deal approval over Trump’s tariff ‘chaos’

The about-face parliament comes after the US Supreme Court struck down Trump’s use of an emergency-powers law to impose his so-called reciprocal tariffs around the world. | Photo Credit: Dado Ruvic

The European Parliament’s trade chief will propose freezing the ratification process of the European Union’s trade deal with the US until they’ve received details from President Donald Trump’s administration on its trade policy. 

Bernd Lange, chairman of the parliament’s trade committee, said he’ll propose suspending legislative work on approving the so-called Turnberry Agreement at an emergency meeting on Monday “until we have a comprehensive legal assessment and clear commitments from the US.” 

“Pure customs chaos on the part of the US government,” Lange wrote on social media Sunday. “Nobody can make sense of it anymore – only unanswered questions and growing uncertainty for the EU and other US trading partners.”

The about-face parliament comes after the US Supreme Court struck down Trump’s use of an emergency-powers law to impose his so-called reciprocal tariffs around the world. The parliamentary committee froze the approval process once before after Trump threatened to annex Greenland. 

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Published on February 22, 2026