The Turnberry trade deal moved a step closer to adoption. EU lawmakers secured several safeguards against future US backsliding, but dropped the clause that would have suspended the agreement if Washington threatened the sovereignty of EU territory — a concern amplified by Donald Trump’s renewed interest in Greenland.
The European Parliament’s INTA committee signed off on both halves of the legislation enacting the EU–US trade deal, by 31 votes to six with three abstentions, sending it toward final adoption this month despite lingering unease over the deal itself.
The vote ratifies the provisional deal struck a week earlier between Parliament and member states. Under it, the EU will begin lifting tariffs on US industrial and some agricultural goods as agreed under the Turnberry framework, while retaining the right to suspend those reductions if Washington fails to honour the terms.
Safeguards built into the deal
Lawmakers secured several guardrails. The implementing regulation carries a sunset clause causing it to expire in December 2029 – nearly a year after Trump is due to leave office.
Brussels can also suspend the tariff preferences if the US has not brought its steel and aluminium duties into line by the end of 2026. They are currently as high as 50 percent on hundreds of EU derivative products, well above the 15 percent Turnberry ceiling.
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The deal also lets Brussels act if American goods start flooding the EU market: the Commission would assess the damage to European producers and, if warranted, reverse some or all of the tariff cuts.
Key demands left out
The approved text does however drop a European Parliament-backed clause that would have suspended the deal if Washington threatened the sovereignty of EU territory. A requirement many see as necessary given Trump’s moves on Greenland which have reignited again last week.
A sunrise clause that would have delayed EU tariff cuts until the US moved first on metals has also not made it into the deal.
With Trump threatening a 25 percent tariff on European cars by July 4 if the legislation isn’t approved, the EU has set the final plenary vote for 16 June, where liberal and left-leaning MEPs uneasy with the deal could narrow the result.
