“I am confident that … we have all the ingredients that allow us to show that we remain a reliable partner while giving us all the instruments to react to any developments that we see,” Weyand also told trade lawmakers.
While the Commission and a majority of EU member countries want to get Turnberry over the line, EU lawmakers have dug in their heels — dismayed by Trump’s threats earlier this year to annex Greenland, a Danish territory. They have also reassessed whether the deal is still a good one after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out Trump’s original tariffs in February.
Led by veteran trade committee Chair Bernd Lange, lawmakers have called to add extra conditions that would stall the deal until Trump cuts steel tariffs, suspend it if he threatens the EU’s territorial integrity and terminate it before the end of his term.
So far the sides haven’t agreed on any of the most controversial discussion points, said one official in the Council. These include a so-called sunrise clause, which would make the deal conditional on the U.S. removing controversial tariffs on steel-derived products, as well as an automatic date of expiry for the agreement.
“There was progress, and the goal is to finish negotiations soon. But the two sides need to check with political groups and member countries respectively to see what they are willing to accept,” the official added of the late-night talks.
Lange, the Parliament’s chief negotiator, said both sides are “converging toward an agreement” but added that more time was needed.