European Commission presses U.S. to honor EU-U.S. trade deal after Trump lifts global tariffs to 15%
The European Commission urged Washington to honor last year’s EU-U.S. trade deal after President Donald Trump temporarily raised the global duty on imports to 15%, a move announced a day after the Supreme Court curtailed much of his tariffs campaign.
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“A deal is a deal. As the United States’ largest trading partner, the EU expects the US to honour its commitments set out in the Joint Statement — just as the EU stands by its commitments,” the Commission said in a statement, underscoring that the European Union will seek accountability on the pact’s agreed terms.
Brussels also requested “full clarity on the steps the United States intends to take following the recent Supreme Court ruling on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA),” the law the administration had invoked in its trade measures. The Commission’s call for explanations followed Trump’s decision to increase the across-the-board tariff rate to 15%, injecting fresh uncertainty into an already fraught transatlantic trade landscape.
The EU insisted that “EU products must continue to benefit from the most competitive treatment, with no increases in tariffs beyond the clear and all-inclusive ceiling previously agreed,” warning that any deviation from the deal would breach the spirit and the letter of the joint understanding reached last year.
The Commission cautioned that “when applied unpredictably, tariffs are inherently disruptive, undermining confidence and stability across global markets and creating further uncertainty across international supply chains.” European officials have argued that such volatility risks weighing on investment and trade planning for both sides of the Atlantic.
Despite the spike in tensions, the Commission said it remains “in close and continuous contact” with the U.S. administration. EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič has spoken with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, according to Brussels, as both sides seek to assess the legal and commercial fallout of the court decision and the tariff increase.
The political ramifications were immediate in Brussels. The European Parliament’s trade committee was due to approve the EU-U.S. deal on Tuesday, but the Supreme Court judgment — and Washington’s subsequent tariff move — cast doubt on that timeline. Committee chair Bernd Lange said he would ask Parliament’s political groups to pause approval “until we have a proper legal assessment and clear commitments from the US side.”
Lange described the situation as “Pure tariff chaos from the US administration. No one can make sense of it anymore — only open questions and growing uncertainty for the EU and other US trading partners.” He added: “Clarity and legal certainty are needed before any further steps are taken.”
The European Union has framed its response as an effort to stabilize the transatlantic commercial relationship while safeguarding the terms of a deal that both sides heralded last year as a reset. With the Supreme Court limiting the administration’s use of IEEPA to shape trade policy and tariffs temporarily rising, European officials said they are seeking immediate assurances that EU goods will not face duties above the negotiated ceiling.
For now, Brussels is pressing for detailed guidance from Washington on how the tariff changes will be applied and for how long, even as it keeps the door open to cooperation. The Commission’s message was clear: preserving predictability — and the credibility of the EU-U.S. agreement — will determine whether lawmakers in Europe proceed with approval of the deal.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
