EU-US trade deal: "Turnberry legislation on hold until Greenland threats cease"

Bernd Lange, chair of Parliament’s International Trade Committee and standing rapporteur for the US, issued the following statement on the status of the EU-US trade deal.

Following a meeting of the committee’s shadow rapporteurs (i.e. political group representatives), Bernd Lange (S&D, DE) said: "The European Parliament has been working hard to define its position on the two Turnberry legislative proposals in order to be able to enter into negotiations with the Council and implement the EU’s commitments under the EU-US deal.

The Turnberry Deal would have suspended tariffs on all US industrial goods and established a tariff-rate quota system for a large number of US agri-food products entering the EU. However, by threatening the territorial integrity and sovereignty of an EU member state and by using tariffs as a coercive instrument, the US is undermining the stability and predictability of EU-US trade relations.

Today, the shadow rapporteurs of the International Trade Committee echoed the European Parliament’s unshakable commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Denmark and Greenland. Given the continued and escalating threats, including tariff threats, against Greenland and Denmark, and their European allies, we have been left with no alternative but to suspend work on the two Turnberry legislative proposals until the US decides to re-engage on a path of cooperation rather than confrontation, and before any further steps are taken."

Press conference today at 16.00

A press conference on the subject with Mr Lange will take place on Wednesday 21 January at 16.00 in the Daphne Caruana Galizia press conference room (European Parliament, Strasbourg) and via Interactio. It can also be followed live on Parliament’s streaming website.

Background

In July 2025, the EU and the US reached a political agreement on tariff and trade issues (Turnberry Deal), outlined in detail in an August 2025 joint statement announcing an EU-US Framework Agreement. The Commission then published two legislative proposals aimed at implementing certain tariff aspects of the EU-US Framework Agreement.

The International Trade Committee is responsible for steering the legislation through Parliament and for leading negotiations with the EU governments on the final shape of the customs duties on goods imports from the US.