The European Union’s planned landmark trade deal with the United States is once again in jeopardy, as the fallout from a Supreme Court ruling against President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs continues to ripple across global trade negotiations.
Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament’s trade committee, said on Sunday he would propose suspending legislative work on approving the so-called Turnberry Agreement at an emergency meeting on Monday.
He wants the process frozen until lawmakers receive a full legal assessment and “clear commitments” from Washington on where US trade policy now stands.
“Pure tariff chaos from the U.S. administration. No one can make sense of it anymore — only open questions and growing uncertainty for the EU and other U.S. trading partners,” Lange wrote on X. The Greens group in the parliament have echoed his position.
What happened in US to affect EU deal?
In a 6-3 decision on Friday, the court ruled that Trump had exceeded his authority by using a 1977 emergency law — the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA — to impose his sweeping global tariffs. The ruling invalidated the legal foundation on which much of Trump’s trade agenda, including several bilateral agreements, had been built.
Trump’s response was immediate, and furious. At a White House press conference, he said he was “ashamed of certain members of the court”, and described the judged in the majority as “very unpatriotic and disloyal to the Constitution”, while suggesting they were “swayed by foreign interests”.
Rather than accept the ruling, Trump moved immediately to reimpose tariffs through different legal routes. On the same day as the ruling, he issued a proclamation for a 10% global tariff for 150 days; and the following morning he announced he was raising that rate to 15%, the maximum allowed under the statute.
This whiplash — a court ruling, a 10% tariff, then a 15% tariff within 36 hours — is exactly what has thrown European and other trading partners into confusion.
What’s in the US-EU deal?
The US-EU Turnberry Agreement was decided upon last July at Trump’s Scottish golf resort. Under its terms, the EU agreed to reduce import duties on a range of American goods, and the US fixed a 15% tariff on most European exports. Those tariffs were largely implemented under the IEEPA, meaning they were invalidated as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling. The new 15% rate is now in place, but on an entirely different legal footing — one that expires in 150 days unless the US Congress acts.
That distinction matters enormously to European legislators asked to ratify a deal whose terms and legal basis have materially changed overnight.
It is the second suspension of parliamentary work on the deal in weeks. The committee had earlier frozen proceedings over Trump’s threats to acquire Greenland. It subsequently resumed work and had scheduled a ratification vote for this week. That vote is now unlikely to go ahead.
The EU is not alone. India is among countries that stood at the cusp of finalising an interim trade deal with Washington. Indian commerce minister Piyush Goyal had said as recently as Saturday that the deal was likely to be signed next month and would take effect from April.
EU not alone
When asked about the India deal at the Friday press conference, Trump insisted there was nothing to worry about. “Nothing changes. They’ll be paying tariffs, and we will not be paying tariffs,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Modi is “a great man” but that India had previously been “ripping us off”.
Meanwhile, the Delhi-based independent think tank Global Trade Research Institute called on the Modi government to reassess the deal with the US in light of the ruling.
In Washington, the ruling has also exposed cracks within the Republican Party. Senator Rand Paul hailed the court’s decision as a “defense of our Republic”, and Representative Don Bacon called it “common sense”. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Congress and the administration would determine the “best path forward” in the coming weeks.
Trump took to Truth Social late on Friday to lash out at Republican lawmakers too, writing “Republicans are so disloyal to themselves! Unite, stick together, and WIN!”
For now, EU HQ Brussels is waiting for the dust to settle after spending months nudging the deal toward a final vote. That vote, at least for the moment, looks some way off.
