Out of the frying pan into the fire? The trade deal between the European Union and the United States, reached on July 27, 2025, at Donald Trump’s Scottish golf resort, was widely seen across Europe as a collective humiliation. The US Supreme Court’s decision on Friday, February 20, to overturn a series of new tariffs imposed by Washington on its trading partners may lead the 27 EU member states to face even harsher treatment. For now, it opens a period of uncertainty that they could have done without.

In this context, on Monday, the European Parliament decided it was best to wait before ratifying the deal signed last summer by Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and the US president. “The situation is now more uncertain than ever,” explained Bernd Lange, chair of the International Trade Committee in the European Parliament, shortly after. Furthermore, the German lawmaker (SPD) warned that European exports to the US “would be subject to an applied rate exceeding the 15% threshold” set in the Turnberry agreement.

The deal allows for US tariffs of 15% on most goods from the EU, including pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and the automotive sector. Relieved to avoid the 30% tariffs threatened by the White House, the EU, for its part, agreed to remove tariffs on many American goods. For Europeans, the unbalanced Turnberry agreement was seen as the price to pay to ensure continued US support for Kyiv. But it also aimed, in their view, to guarantee “stability and predictability” for companies, as von der Leyen has often emphasized.

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