STRASBOURG, France — The European Parliament’s top trade lawmakers on Tuesday agreed to a common position on the EU-U.S. trade deal, Bernd Lange of the Socialist & Democrats and Željana Zovko of the European People’s Party told POLITICO.
The agreement, struck by moderate groups in the chamber, will be met with relief in both Brussels and Washington. It follows weeks of wrangling among members of Parliament over whether to attach strings to the deal struck between President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last summer.
The meeting broke a deadlock over the removal of tariffs on U.S. industrial goods and lobster. It was resolved after the top trade lawmakers ironed out a specific safeguard to address the risk that Trump turns hostile again after his threats last month to annex Greenland.
Among the difficult items, lawmakers settled on a sunset clause that would effectively put an expiry date of March 2028 on the trade deal.
