MEPs claim victory as Trump trade pact gets kill-switch

In the end, MEPs were not the first to blink. In the early hours of Wednesday morning (20 May), MEPs and ministers agreed on a final EU position on the trade agreement signed by US president Donald Trump and EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen last summer – which saw ministers agree to clauses that will allow the EU to suspend the pact if Trump imposes new or higher tariffs. 

The agreement is based on a US commitment to a maximum tariff ceiling of 15 percent for most EU exports, including cars and car parts, while the EU eliminate duties on US imports. 

“We got what we need,” German social democrat MEP Bernd Lange, who led the parliament’s negotiating team in the trilogue talks with ministers and the EU Commission, told reporters during a press conference in Strasbourg on Wednesday (20 May). 

In an interview with EUobserver ahead of the trilogue, Lange said that the final deal must provide “sufficient safety nets for European producers and safeguards jobs across Europe. In addition, the legislation must also be legally robust and able to withstand judicial scrutiny.” 

EU officials have also tacked on a three-year sunset clause that will suspend the agreement in July 2029 — six months after Trump is due to leave office at the end of his second term. 

MEPs have also argued that – since the US’s own legal basis for Trump’s tariffs is unclear (following the US Supreme Court’s ruling to throw out the tariffs in February, and with amendments to the US Tariff Act due to expire in July) – the suspension clause is a must. 

“We need a clear suspension clause so that we can act if there is a breach of the deal,” said Lange. 

However, Lange conceded that the toughest and lengthiest negotiations among EU officials had been on the tariffs on products containing derivatives of copper, steel, aluminium – which Trump has threatened to lift to 50 percent. 

Clock ticking to 4 July deadline now

The parliament’s international trade committee is due to meeting on 2 June followed by a final vote to implement the agreement on 17 June. That would mean the EU meeting a 4 July deadline set by the US president. 

But adding the guarantees requires the US to sign off.