BRUSSELS (The Thursday Times) — The European Union is preparing to suspend progress on a trade agreement with the United States, following renewed tariff threats from Washington that have unsettled already fragile transatlantic economic relations, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The move, led by senior figures in the European Parliament, would place the deal on hold rather than formally cancel it, reflecting growing political resistance in Brussels to advancing trade cooperation under mounting pressure from the White House. Lawmakers said it had become increasingly difficult to justify deeper economic engagement while the threat of punitive tariffs remains unresolved.
The decision follows warnings by Donald Trump that the United States could impose new duties on European goods, a tactic he has previously used as leverage in trade negotiations. While US officials have argued that the tariff threats are unrelated to the broader trade framework, European leaders have signalled that political trust is now central to the fate of the agreement.
Manfred Weber, leader of the European People’s Party, the largest bloc in the European Parliament, said that moving forward with the deal under current conditions was no longer politically viable. Suspending the agreement, he suggested, would allow the EU to demonstrate resolve without immediately escalating into retaliatory measures.
Officials in Brussels see the pause as a warning shot rather than a final rupture. By freezing the deal, the EU aims to preserve room for negotiation while increasing pressure on Washington to clarify its long-term trade strategy toward Europe.
The standoff highlights a broader recalibration in transatlantic relations, where economic cooperation is increasingly shaped by political uncertainty and domestic pressures on both sides. Analysts say the dispute underscores how quickly trade policy can become entangled with wider strategic and diplomatic tensions.
