The EU-US trade deal has been put on ice in the European Parliament until the USA and President Donald Trump stop using tariff threats and pressure tactics linked to Greenland, according to a statement by Bernd Lange, chair of Parliament’s International Trade Committee. The decision was taken in Strasbourg on Wednesday 21 January 2026, after a meeting of the committee’s political group representatives.
Why the EU-US trade deal is now on hold
Bernd Lange said Parliament cannot move ahead with the legislation needed to implement parts of the agreement while Washington questions the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Denmark and Greenland and treats tariffs as a tool of coercion.
By threatening the territorial integrity and sovereignty of an EU member state and by using tariffs as a coercive instrument, the US is undermining the stability and predictability of EU-US trade relations
The step is political rather than technical: it signals that Parliament will not advance the file until the USA “re-engages on a path of cooperation rather than confrontation”, and before any further steps are taken.
What the Turnberry Deal would change for tariffs and agri-food imports
The parliamentary work affected by the freeze concerns two “Turnberry” legislative proposals, designed to deliver parts of the EU’s commitments under the July 2025 political agreement on tariff and trade issues, often referred to as the Turnberry Deal.
The European Commission (the EU executive) had presented the two proposals as the legal route to implement these tariff elements, while the International Trade Committee steers the file in Parliament and leads talks with EU governments on the final shape of customs duties.
Denmark and Greenland sovereignty at the centre of Parliament’s message
In Lange’s statement, the committee’s shadow rapporteurs reiterated Parliament’s commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Denmark and Greenland.
The timing also intersects with a broader political response in Brussels and Strasbourg to Trump’s repeated claims and tariff threats linked to Greenland. Finnish broadcaster Yle, citing STT, reported that Parliament’s move was explicitly framed as a response to threats against an EU member state’s sovereignty.
