The EU needs to be “clear” about Donald Trump’s intentions after he halted a planned levy on eight countries over his stance on Greenland, a senior lawmaker told CNBC.
Following the U.S. president’s withdrawal, EU lawmakers eliminated the threat of counter-tariff measures against the United States.
Bernd Lange, a member of the European Parliament and chair of the EU-US Trade Relations Committee at the International Trade Commission, said the EU “needs to be more clear” about Trump’s intentions after the president declared on Truth Social late Wednesday that he had a “framework” for an agreement between the White House and NATO. Trump later told CNBC that he had “an idea of a deal.”
“First of all, no one knows exactly what the details of this so-called solution or agreement are. We need to look at the details,” Lange told CNBC by phone Thursday morning.
“Decisions on such solutions and agreements should be taken by the people of Denmark and Greenland, not between two key people,” he said, referring to President Trump’s meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“Let’s see what development brings,” he added.
European lawmakers on Wednesday suspended approval of a trade deal between the European Union and the United States agreed last July, after President Trump unveiled plans over the weekend to impose new import taxes on eight countries.
European leaders were scheduled to discuss possible responses at an emergency summit in Brussels late Thursday night, including countermeasures against about 93 billion euros ($108 billion) worth of U.S. imports that come into effect next month.
However, tensions appear to have eased after President Trump opposed the Greenland annexation plan, said there was a “framework for a future agreement” over Greenland, and lifted tariffs on eight European countries.
Lange said that EU tariff countermeasures “are not off the table, they are on hold.”
“It’s clear that this list of countermeasures, which is still legally in place, will not come into force in February because there are likely to be no tariffs from the United States. So this will also be put on hold… and probably extended for several months,” he said.
Despite President Trump’s apparent failure, EU leaders are poised to press ahead with an emergency summit scheduled to follow.
“We will look at the assessment of this so-called Greenland solution and, secondly, we will be in touch with our US partners to get more clarity and certainty about respect for both parties’ agreements,” Lange said.
