After threatening the European Union with new customs duties on cars and trucks exported to the United States a few days ago, Donald Trump said he had “agreed to a deadline” to the Twenty-Seven before implementing these duties. Following a phone call, which he described as “excellent,” with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the American president wrote on his Truth Social network that the EU had until July 4th to “honor its commitments” made in the commercial agreement signed last summer in Turnberry, Scotland.
Beyond this deadline, the customs duties imposed by Washington on EU countries would “immediately skyrocket to much higher levels,” he assured.
Ursula von der Leyen, on the other hand, sought to reassure on the social network X, emphasizing that “significant progress has been made towards reducing customs duties, by early July.” “We remain fully committed, from both sides, to its implementation,” she added, calling the call “very good.”
Approved, but not yet applied
At the end of March, the European Parliament did approve this trade agreement between the United States and the EU, but the internal procedures of the Twenty-Seven involve negotiations with the member states before it is formally applied. In the meantime, the European bloc “is implementing the commitments made” with Washington, “in accordance with usual legislative practices, keeping the American government fully informed throughout the process,” declared the EU delegation in Washington last May 1st. Furthermore, they added that if the United States did not uphold its part of the agreement, the EU would “keep all options open to protect [its] interests.”
By approving this agreement, Members of the European Parliament did include multiple safeguards, suspensive conditions, and even an extinction clause (set in March 2028) to denounce the unbalanced nature of this agreement and show their extreme distrust towards the American president.
With AFP
