European Union (EU) parliamentarians have approved a trade deal with the US struck last year but delayed during US President Donald Trump’s campaign to take over Greenland, paving the way for ratification that Brussels hopes will stabilise trade relations.
The European parliament on Thursday backed the 2025 Turnberry agreement to eliminate tariffs on American industrial goods and some agricultural products in return for the US dropping its levies on most EU goods to 15 per cent.
However, MEPs set conditions that Washington might object to, unless they are changed during negotiations with EU member states, which begin on April 13th.
They voted to delay the EU’s tariff cuts until the US dropped its own levies to 15 per cent. They also agreed that the EU would reverse its decision if Trump imposed new levies and that the cuts would end on March 31st, 2028 without a new vote.
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Andrew Puzder, the US ambassador to the EU, said this week that if the EU did not deliver on its side of the bargain, the US could walk away from its commitments, including the sale of €750 million worth of energy including liquefied natural gas, which is in demand because of the war in the Middle East.
He welcomed the vote, saying it would deliver the “stability and predictability” needed to advance the trade relationship.
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In January Trump threatened to impose additional tariffs on European countries who sent troops to Greenland to defend it from any US attempts to take it by force.
The Supreme Court has in the meantime ruled that Trump’s tariffs imposed last year were illegal, which prompted him to replace them with a 10 per cent levy under a different law.
That has left importers paying more than 15 per cent on some EU products. Many products made with steel and aluminium such as washing machines are paying even more under a separate US regime.
Roberta Metsola, the president of parliament, said: “We act on an understanding that the 15 per cent tariffs on most industrial goods is the ceiling and additional tariffs will not apply above this level,” she told reporters.
“I can assure you that we want to get this across the finish line as quickly as possible, in the next weeks.”
Olof Gill, European Commission trade spokesman, said: “We look forward to the US administration fulfilling its part of the bargain and delivering on its commitments as set out in the [Turnberry] joint statement.
“We will continue to engage constructively with the US on other work strands . . . notably around steel, steel derivatives, other areas for possible tariff exemptions.” – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026
