Europe Suspends Approval of US Tariffs Agreement Amid Rising Tensions

Tue Jan 20 2026 22:42:29 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

The European Parliament plans to suspend the approval of a tariffs deal with the US, escalating tensions as trade discussions falter. Investors react with declining stock prices.

The European Parliament is set to announce a suspension of the US tariffs deal initially agreed upon in July. This decision, influenced by recent threats from the US regarding tariffs on Greenland, signals a significant escalation in transatlantic trade tensions. The delay could have broader economic impacts, as financial markets respond negatively amid fears of a possible trade war.

The European Parliament is planning to suspend approval of the US tariffs deal agreed in July, according to sources close to its international trade committee.

The suspension is set to be announced in Strasbourg, France on Wednesday.

The move would mark another escalation in tensions between the US and Europe, as Donald Trump ratchets up his efforts to acquire Greenland, threatening new tariffs over the issue on the weekend.

The stand-off has rattled financial markets, reviving talk of a trade war and the possibility of retaliation against the US for its trade measures.

Shares on both sides of the Atlantic were lower on Tuesday, with European stock markets seeing a second day of losses and the three main US stock indices down by more than 1% in morning trading.

On the currency markets, the US dollar also fell sharply. The euro climbed 0.8% against the dollar to $1.1742 while the pound rose by 0.2% to $1.346.

Borrowing costs also rippled higher around the world, as the biggest sell-off of long-term government debt in months drove up yields on 30-year bonds in markets including the US, UK, and Germany.

Trade tensions between the US and Europe had eased since the two sides struck a deal at Trump's Turnberry golf course in Scotland in July.

That agreement set US levies on European goods at 15%, down from the 30% Trump had initially threatened as part of his 'Liberation Day' wave of tariffs in April. In exchange, Europe had agreed to invest in the US and make changes at on the continent expected to boost US exports.

The deal still needs approval from the European Parliament to become official.

But on Saturday, within hours of Trump's threat of US tariffs over Greenland, Manfred Weber, an influential German member of European Parliament, said 'approval is not possible at this stage'.

The EU had put on hold plans to retaliate against the US tariffs with its own package targeting €93bn ($109bn, £81bn) worth of American goods while the two sides finalized the details.

But that reprieve ends on 6 February, meaning EU levies will come into force on 7 February unless the bloc moves for an extension or approves the new deal.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterated his warning to European leaders against retaliation, urging them to 'have an open mind'.

In a speech in Davos on Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney urged 'middle powers' to unite to push back against the might-makes-right world of great power rivalry that he warned was emerging.

Looming in the background of the trade tensions is a pending Supreme Court decision over whether many of the tariffs Trump announced last year are legal.