Weber threatens to pull plug on US trade talks and force plenary vote
The European People’s Party’s (EPP) leader Manfred Weber has threatened to end negotiations with national diplomats on the EU-US trade pact and send the issue to a plenary vote.
The threat comes ahead of a second round of talks between MEPs and the Council due to start on Wednesday evening and aimed at making progress on the so-called “Turnberry” deal closed at Donald Trump’s Scottish golf course last summer.
“If the trilogue this week does not produce a result, then we, as the EPP, will simply put [Turnberry] to a vote,” Weber, who chairs the centre-right group in the European Parliament, told reporters on Tuesday.
The proposal under the “Turnberry” deal scraps tariffs on hundreds of US agricultural and industrial goods.
Trump has recently threatened to raise tariffs on EU cars, claiming the bloc is not complying with the agreement. EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is expected to meet US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Paris this afternoon.
Weber…
