STRASBOURG — The European Parliament plans to ask the European Commission on Monday to start the process for activating the bloc’s most powerful trade weapon against the United States, a senior trade lawmaker said Wednesday.
“I expect that the coordinators will decide to request to start the investigation procedure of the [Anti-Coercion Instrument]. Of course, between now and Monday there’s a lot of time and we will see what will happen,” Trade Committee Chair Bernd Lange told reporters in Strasbourg.
The statement by Lange, a German Social Democrat, comes as relations between the EU and the United States hit an all-time low, following President Donald Trump’s threats to seize Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory. Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on European countries that have rallied to Copenhagen’s side.
Resolve within the bloc is growing to hit back against Trump, with the Parliament also formally freezing Wednesday the ratification of the EU-U.S. trade deal that was struck last summer.
