EU Lawmakers Vote to Advance U.S. Trade Deal — Update

By Edith Hancock

European Union lawmakers voted to advance talks on the bloc's trade deal with the U.S., bringing officials one step closer to implementing the accord.

Members of the European Parliament on Thursday voted 417 in favor and 154 against to adopt their position on pieces of legislation that would slash tariffs on U.S. goods under the trade deal, which was initially reached in July 2025 after months of back-and-forth between the European Commission and U.S. President Trump's administration.

The vote paves the way for negotiations between lawmakers, EU countries and the European Commission.

The parliament's ratification process was put on hold last month after the Supreme Court ruled that some of Trump's so-called reciprocal global tariffs were illegal, having already been paused after Trump threatened to impose tariffs on some European countries over Greenland.

Bernd Lange, chair of the parliament's trade committee, said on Thursday that the parliament has made the deal resilient against what he called rough winds from the U.S. The parliament added additional safeguards to the legislation, such as only lowering tariffs on U.S. goods when the U.S. respects its commitments under the deal.

"New threats of tariffs or lack of benefits for EU manufacturers & consumers will lead to the expiration of the legal provisions," he said in a post on X.

Write to Edith Hancock at edith.hancock@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 26, 2026 07:18 ET (11:18 GMT)