European lawmakers on Wednesday suspended the approval of the trade deal that the EU and U.S. agreed in July.
In a statement on Wednesday, European Parliament member Bernd Lange, and INTA chair on EU-US trade relations, said the recent plans by President Donald Trump to impose tariffs of between 10% to 25% on European nations go against the terms of the trade pact.
Referring to Trump’s address at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, Lange said: “I guess he didn’t revise his position. He wants to have Greenland as part of the United States as quick as possible.”
In his speech, the president called for “immediate negotiations” on the acquisition of the Arctic territory.
Trump ruled out the use of military force in his speech, a commitment Lange described as a “small positive element.”
However, Lange said the proposed 10% to 25% tariffs remain on the table, adding that, until the threat of them is over, “there will be no possibility of compromise.”
“We will hold on the procedure... until there is clarity regarding Greenland and the threats,” he said.
Lange said Trump is “using tariffs as an instrument of political pressure” as a way to buy Greenland, and described the move as “an attack against the economic and territorial sovereignty of the European Union.”
Politics aside, this is good for Equities market all around. Expect markets to be ticking higher until end of earnings season.