The legislative machinery of the European Union has ground to a deliberate halt today, as Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted to suspend all work on the US-EU trade pact. The move is a direct retaliation against President Trump’s "Greenland for Tariffs" diplomacy.

While the suspension of the deal was expected, the ferocity of the parliamentary debate in Strasbourg revealed the depth of the fracture. MEPs from the center-right EPP to the Greens united in a rare chorus of indignation, framing the US demand not just as a trade dispute, but as an existential threat to the European Union itself.

"We Are Not a Real Estate Agency"

Manfred Weber, leader of the European People’s Party (EPP), set the tone. "The European Union is a partnership of sovereign nations, not a real estate agency for the Trump Organization," he thundered. "We cannot negotiate 0% tariffs on lobsters while the territorial integrity of Denmark is on the auction block."

• The Technical Freeze: The "Turnberry Legislative Proposals," which were slated for a final vote next week, have been pulled from the agenda. These proposals would have eliminated duties on US industrial goods—a concession Europe made in July 2025 to avoid a trade war. Now, those duties remain, and US exporters will continue to face barriers.
• The Anti-Coercion Weapon: For the first time, serious discussions have begun about activating the EU’s "Anti-Coercion Instrument" (ACI). Originally designed to counter Chinese economic bullying, the ACI allows Brussels to impose swift, painful countermeasures against any country interfering in the sovereign choices of a member state. Using it against the US—a NATO ally—would be nuclear.

The View from the South

For African nations watching from the sidelines, this clash of titans is instructive. It exposes the ruthlessness of great power competition. "If the US can treat Denmark like a tenant, what chance do we have?" asked a Kenyan trade envoy in Brussels.

The paralysis in Brussels means that global trade uncertainty will spike. For Kenyan exporters, who rely on stable rules-based systems, the return of the "law of the jungle" is bad news. The message from Strasbourg is clear: Europe will not blink. The question is, will Trump?