BRUSSELS – The European Union’s executive branch has called for “complete transparency” from the United States, urging the nation to honor its trade agreements following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn several of President Donald Trump’s comprehensive tariffs.
In response to the ruling, Trump expressed dissatisfaction and declared on Saturday his intention to implement a global tariff of 15%, an increase from the 10% he had previously mentioned.
The European Commission expressed that the current situation undermines the ability to achieve a “fair, balanced, and mutually advantageous” trade and investment relationship across the Atlantic, as outlined in the EU-U.S. Joint Statement from August 2025.
Last year, American and EU officials reached a trade agreement that includes a 15% import tax on 70% of European goods sent to the U.S. The European Commission is responsible for managing trade matters for the EU’s 27 member nations.
On Sunday, a prominent EU legislator announced plans to advise the European Parliament’s negotiating team to halt the ratification process of the agreement.
“The U.S. administration’s tariff strategy is pure chaos,” remarked Bernd Lange, chair of the Parliament’s international trade committee, on social media. “It’s become incomprehensible, leaving only open questions and increasing uncertainty for the EU and other U.S. trading partners.”
The value of EU-U.S. trade in goods and services amounted to 1.7 trillion euros ($2 trillion) in 2024, or an average of 4.6 billion euros a day, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat.
“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 top trade negotiator, said in a CBS News interview Sunday morning that the U.S. plans to stand by its trade deals and expects its partners to do the same.
He said he talked to his European counterpart this weekend and hasn’t heard anyone tell him the deal is off.
“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.”
Europe’s biggest exports to the U.S. are pharmaceuticals, cars, aircraft, chemicals, medical instruments, and wine and spirits. Among the biggest U.S. exports to the bloc are professional and scientific services like payment systems and cloud infrastructure, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, aerospace products and cars.
“When applied unpredictably, tariffs are inherently disruptive, undermining confidence and stability across global markets and creating further uncertainty across international supply chains,” the commission added.
As primarily a trading bloc, the EU has a powerful tool at its disposal to retaliate — the bloc’s Anti-Coercion Instrument. It includes a raft of measures for blocking or restricting trade and investment from countries found to be putting undue pressure on EU member nations or corporations.
The measures could include curtailing the export and import of goods and services, barring countries or companies from EU public tenders, or limiting foreign direct investment. In its most severe form, it would essentially close off access to the EU’s 450-million customer market and inflict billions of dollars of losses on U.S. companies and the American economy.
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