The EU pushed back on Trump’s latest tariff threats. Hours later, he backed down

By Elisabeth Buchwald, Ana Nicolaci da Costa, CNN

Strasbourg, France (CNN) — A key group of European Parliament members blocked a vote to ratify a US-European trade deal Wednesday after President Donald Trump threatened to take over Greenland and charge as much as an additional 35% tariff on countries opposed to his ambitions.

Then, hours later, Trump called off his threat.

“Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. “Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st.”

But with few details about what the framework, or as Trump called it in a CNBC interview on Wednesday, a “concept of a deal,” would look like in practice, it was unclear if the European lawmakers were also backing down from their threat. Additionally, it had yet to be determined whether European lawmakers were blocking the whole deal or just the parts not yet enacted.

The trade agreement reached last summer called for 15% tariffs on European Union goods shipping to the US; some parts have already gone into effect and appear to remain that way.

Trump has demanded control of Greenland, saying the territory is crucial to US security. While he’s hinted at seizing it militarily, he told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland earlier on Wednesday that he did not intend to use force to acquire Greenland.

Instead, he doubled down on his tariff threat – the consequences of which could reach across the world, given the sizes of the economies involved.

But European leaders pushed back on those economic threats.

Bernd Lange, chair of Parliament’s trade committee, accused the US of violating the terms of the previous trade agreement by threatening additional tariffs.

But the administration said the EU wasn’t holding up its end of the deal, including increased purchases of American agricultural and energy products. “The EU has failed to implement its commitments under the deal despite rapid US moves to reduce its tariffs on the EU last year,” US Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer said before the framework was announced.

Trump’s tariff threats over Greenland triggered an emergency meeting of European countries’ representatives over the weekend, and French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly asked the European Union to activate its so-called anti-coercion instrument, colloquially known as a “trade bazooka.” That could involve suspending US company licenses or taxing US services.

Collectively, trade between the US and EU was nearly $1 trillion in 2024, according to data from the US Commerce Department. A trade war between the two economies could have profound impacts for all involved.

This story has been updated with additional context and developments.

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CNN’s Auzinea Bacon contributed reporting.