The European Parliament on Monday decided to postpone a vote on the ratification process for the trade deal with United States, days after the US Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs, two sources said, according to Reuters.
The US Supreme Court had earlier struck down Trump’s previous global tariffs, following which the US President imposed blanket 15% import duty.
The Parliament’s trade committee was due to vote on Tuesday, but this has now been postponed in the second such suspension by EU lawmakers, Reuters reported.
An agreement was struck between the European Union and US at the end of July, as part of which EU is debating legislative proposals to remove many import duties on American goods. This was a key part of the trade deal struck in Turnberry, Scotland, which also include zero duties for US lobsters. This proposal requires the approval of the parliament and EU governments.
Trump’s ‘more obnoxious tariffs’ threat
Meanwhile, US President Trump on Monday again condemned the SC ruling against the sweeping tariffs. The US Supreme Court had, in a 6-3 ruling, said that Trump acted unlawfully by using a long standing federal emergency powers law to justify his “reciprocal” tariffs.
The US President had leveraged the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose duties ranging from 10 per cent to 50 per cent on dozens of US trading partners. Following the US SC order, Trump imposed a 10% global tariff replacing previous duties on foreign goods, eventually raising it to 15%.
In a post on Truth Social on Monday, the US President said, “The court has also approved all other Tariffs, of which there are many, and they can all be used in a much more powerful and obnoxious way, with legal certainty, than the Tariffs as initially used.”
Terming the ruling “ridiculous, dumb, and very internationally divisive”, Trump threatened that he can use licences “to do absolutely “terrible” things to foreign countries, especially those countries that have been RIPPING US OFF for many decades”.
“But incomprehensibly, according to the ruling, can’t charge them a License fee – BUT ALL LICENSES CHARGE FEES, why can’t the United States do so?” Trump questioned. He further slammed the Supreme Court, saying they “should be ashamed of themselves”, and alleging that they “did a great job for the wrong people.”
Wall Street futures and the dollar, meanwhile, saw a drop Monday amid confusion over US trade policy and uncertainty over the next step that the Trump administration can take.
