Bernd Lange, Chairman of the Trade Committee, in April 2025.Image: keystone
Feb 23, 2026, 3:51 p.mFebruary 23, 2026, 4:18 p.m
The European Parliament has formally put the implementation of the customs agreement between the USA and the EU on hold. The background is the tariffs newly announced by US President Donald Trump, as the chairman of the Trade Committee, Bernd Lange (SPD), announced.
“We want clear assurances from the United States that they will comply with the agreement, because that is the crucial element,” Lange said in the committee. The decision has no legal impact on currently applicable customs duties.
After a decision by the US Supreme Court against his tariff policy, Trump announced a global tariff on imports to the US of 10 percent on Friday and increased it to 15 percent on Saturday.
USA plans ten percent tariff on EU goods
According to US government circles, following the decision of the highest US court, a US tariff of ten percent will be levied on EU imports in the future. The basis for this is the global customs decree recently signed by Donald Trump, according to the White House. (awp/sda/dpa)
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Trump agreed last summer that a maximum tariff should not be exceeded for most EU imports to the USA. The legally binding agreement subsequently drawn up with the USA still has to be approved by the EU Parliament.
Trump threatens on Truth Social
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is making threats on social media, without being specific. On Truth Social he writes:
“Any country that wants to ‘play games’ with the Supreme Court’s ridiculous decision, especially those that have ‘exempted’ the US for years or even decades, will face a much higher tariff rate than the one they recently agreed to.”
Donald Trump
(ome/sda)