PARIS, June 3 - The United States and the European Union remain committed to honoring the framework trade agreement they reached last year, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Wednesday, even as a fresh wave of U.S. tariff actions has unsettled relations with several trading partners.
Greer reiterated that "Both sides are committed to compliance with the trade agreement," and added that "We think there is a lot of room for compliance on both sides," in remarks to France 24. The framework was agreed at U.S. President Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland last July, and the EU is still advancing the deal through its ratification process.
U.S. threats of escalated tariffs have heightened pressure on the timetable. President Trump said he would impose "much higher" tariffs if the bloc did not carry out its commitments by July 4. These comments followed a U.S. administration proposal to impose tariffs of up to 12.5% on imports from 60 economies that the administration said had failed to stop trade in goods produced with forced labour.
The EU was specifically targeted with 10% tariffs in that action. Greer said the tariff announcement should not have been unexpected, noting the underlying investigation had been under way for months. He also indicated he did not expect the announcement to derail the deal in the European Parliament.
Members of the European Parliament have resisted Washington’s conclusions. Bernd Lange, who chairs the European Parliament’s trade committee, described any additional U.S. tariffs on EU goods as unacceptable and called U.S. assertions that the bloc is failing to curb trade in forced labour goods "utterly absurd".
Greer pointed to particular concerns Washington has with the EU Parliament’s draft implementing legislation, including the inclusion of an expiration date for the agreement. "There is still a long way to go for the European Union to comply with their deal. We’re happy with the progress that’s been made, but we do expect more," he said.
The exchange underscores persistent friction between the two sides as they attempt to move from a framework to ratified commitments, with tariff threats and legislative disagreements adding uncertainty to the path forward.
Summary
The U.S. trade chief said both sides remain committed to implementing their trade framework, while new U.S. tariff proposals tied to forced labour investigations have provoked pushback from EU legislators. Greer noted unresolved points in the EU Parliament's draft law and urged additional progress.