The European Union’s executive arm is demanding answers from the United States after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated several of President Donald Trump’s broad tariff measures, a ruling that has rattled the foundations of a hard-won trans-Atlantic trade pact.
The European Commission, which oversees trade policy for the EU’s 27 member states, called for “full clarity” from the United States and urged its partner to respect the obligations outlined in the EU-U.S. Joint Statement of August 2025. Officials in the EU warned that the uncertainty triggered by the court’s decision is at odds with efforts to sustain “fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial” trade and investment ties.
President Trump reacted angrily to the ruling, saying Saturday he now favors a 15% global tariff, up from the 10% rate he unveiled just a day earlier. The abrupt shift has added to volatility surrounding a bilateral agreement finalized last year. That deal set a 15% import tax on roughly 70% of European goods entering the U.S. market.
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Inside the European Parliament, frustration is mounting. Bernd Lange, who chairs the legislature’s international trade committee, said he will recommend that lawmakers suspend the ratification process.
“Pure tariff chaos on the part of the U.S. administration,” he wrote on social media. “No one can make sense of it anymore — only open questions and growing uncertainty for the EU and other U.S. trading partners.”
Despite the political turbulence, trade flows between the two sides remain vast. According to Eurostat, goods and services exchanged between the EU and the United States reached 1.7 trillion euros, about $2 trillion, in 2024. That works out to an average of 4.6 billion euros in daily transactions.
The Commission reiterated that the agreement struck last year must be upheld.
“A deal is a deal,” the European Commission said. “As the United States’ largest trading partner, the EU expects the U.S. to honor its commitments set out in the Joint Statement — just as the EU stands by its commitments. 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.”
Jamieson Greer, Trump’s chief trade negotiator, said in a Sunday interview with CBS News that the United States intends to respect its trade agreements and anticipates reciprocity from its partners. He confirmed he had spoken with his European counterpart over the weekend and said no one had signaled a collapse of the deal.
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“The deals were not premised on whether or not the emergency tariff litigation would rise or fall,” Greer said. “I haven’t heard anyone yet come to me and say the deal’s off. They want to see how this plays out.”
The economic stakes are substantial. Europe’s leading exports to the American market include pharmaceuticals, automobiles, aircraft, chemicals, medical instruments, as well as wine and spirits. In return, the EU imports significant volumes of U.S. professional and scientific services such as payment systems and cloud infrastructure, along with oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, aerospace goods and cars.
The Commission cautioned that unpredictable tariff actions carry systemic risks.
“When applied unpredictably, tariffs are inherently disruptive, undermining confidence and stability across global markets and creating further uncertainty across international supply chains,” it said.
Should tensions escalate, the EU has a potent countermeasure available. The bloc’s Anti-Coercion Instrument empowers the EU to restrict trade and investment from countries deemed to be exerting undue pressure on member states or companies. Potential steps range from limiting imports and exports of goods and services to excluding foreign firms from public procurement contracts or tightening foreign direct investment rules.
In its most far-reaching application, the mechanism could effectively bar access to the EU’s 450 million consumers, a move that would expose U.S. companies to billions of dollars in losses and amplify strain on the American economy, according to the AP’s report.
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