EU Tells US: Stop Threatening Our Companies With Sanctions

Trump admin has signaled it will sanction companies which helped build Nord Stream 2

The European Union is warning the Trump administration to hold off threatening trade sanctions against EU companies involved in the completion of new German-Russian and Turkish-Russian natural gas pipelines and instead discuss differences as allies.

This week, the Trump administration warned companies involved in the projects they will be subject to U.S. penalties unless they halt their work.

The move has further increased tension in already fraught U.S.-European ties.“

I am deeply concerned at the growing use of sanctions, or the threat of sanctions, by the United States against European companies and interests,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement, adding similar attempts had already been made in cases involving Iran, Cuba and the International Criminal Court.

“Where policy differences exist, the European Union is always open to dialogue. But this cannot take place against the threat of sanctions,” Borrell said. “European policies should be determined here in Europe, not by third countries.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced this week the administration is ending grandfather clauses that had spared firms previously involved in the pipelines’ construction from sanctions authorized by the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, a 2017 law aimed at punishing Russia, in particular, for interference in U.S. elections and other matters.

The move opens the door for U.S. economic and financial penalties to be imposed on any European or other foreign company over the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream piplelines, including those that had been working on the projects before the passage of the act and had been previously exempted from the penalties.

Borrell said that “as a matter of principle the European Union opposes the use of sanctions by third countries on European companies carrying out legitimate business.”

The Trump administration has lobbied Europe, particularly Germany, to abandon the pipelines, which it believes put Europe under greater influence from Russia, which has used its energy exports as political leverage.

Pompeo called the pipeline projects the “the Kremlin’s key tools to exploit and expand European dependence on Russian energy supplies,” which he said “ultimately undermine trans-Atlantic security.”

Source: Associated Press

13 Comments
  1. cechas vodobenikov says

    as empires collapse they become more desperate nd incompetent—galtung predicts USA collapse in less than a decade

  2. Reggie says

    It’s about the money not security all we want is your money,just using big bad wolf soon we will see a great shift in the world

  3. Reggie says

    We want your money that’s all it ain’t about security just the money

  4. XRGRSF says

    I hate to say it, but I think the EU will submit to the Empires extortion; they always do.

  5. nick1111 says

    Trump is an idiot

  6. Southern says

    Grow a spine!

    Turn the tables around and start sanctioning the US – refuse to waste 2% of GDP on military hardware for starters and start demanding an end to US exceptionalism and threaten to arrest US war criminals on European soil.

  7. John Rourke says

    I think if the EU countries want to be part of the US Empire and Protection..they should buy US LNG..It’s what Colonies do.

    1. Southern says

      No they don’t want to be, they wan’t to be free to decide for themselves and not be told what to do by a nation that does not understand the fundamental difference between natural gas and a”product” that is the result of the highly toxic process such as fracking.

  8. Mary E says

    The Nordstream pipeline fiasco with the US blowing up at the EU partnering with Russia on something that will be such a positive economic situation for both countries, is absolutely insane…truly, the Americans are so jealous of the great economic benefits that Europe (especially Germany) will receive from this pipeline deal that they are threatening everything except bombing the pipeline itself – and who really knows? Maybe that is in their plan – of course with someone else doing the undercover dirty work…
    This just another example of the US not being able to compete – and/or go about their business in their own country to make it stronger…they just care about preventing others from success!
    Those delusional fools!

  9. Mychal Arnold says

    Blowback will be tremendous! Black mail is the word of the day! And the puppets will comply!

  10. jm74 says

    The EU has only themselves to blame by kowtowing to every US whim and demand; situation is self inflicted. EU needs to assert their authority and sovereignty If they want to avoid similar situations in the future. Incidentally, Merkel needs to go and preferably incarcerated.

  11. David Bedford says

    Germany cannot afford not to support Russia in its quest to join these countries as Russian gas is a lot cheaper than American LNG and once it is complete gas we’ll be free-flowing from than on and the US will just have to kick sand. Russia and Germany are perfect allies and Europe knows Russia is not the same threat as the Soviet Empire they are a capitalist Christian country with a strong economy and that’s why America is so scared of Europe realising that they just want to be good neighbours and business partners.

  12. Padre says

    Principle has nothing to do with it, as EU has shown on several occasions,when the same things was applied to others!

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