European Parliament votes to support conditional implementation of US-EU trade agreement

European lawmakers on the 26th voted in favor of conditionally implementing the transatlantic trade agreement between the U.S. and Europe. The vote that day does not mean that the approval process has ended; the European Parliament and the EU member states still need to negotiate the final text. The U.S. and Europe reached a trade agreement in July 2025. Because of heightened tensions between the two sides over the issue of Greenland, approval of the agreement was delayed for several months. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration’s sweeping tariff policy was unlawful, the relevant process was put on hold again. Subsequently, Trump announced new trade investigations into trade partners such as the EU, prompting European lawmakers to push for more safeguard provisions to be added to the existing agreement. The European Parliament strengthened the proposed suspension clauses, allowing tariff benefits for the U.S. to be suspended in multiple scenarios. Once the U.S. imposes or threatens to impose new tariffs, or violates the terms of the agreement, the agreement can be suspended in whole or in part. The European Parliament also introduced a “sunrise clause,” under which new trade benefits would take effect only after the U.S. fulfills its commitments. Analysts noted that while the EU is working to salvage the U.S.-Europe trade agreement, it is also accelerating the diversification of trade relationships worldwide. Recently, the EU pushed a free trade agreement with Mercosur to take temporary effect in May, and it has recently signed a free trade agreement with India. (Xinhua)