Published on
24/02/2026 – 18:49 GMT+1

EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič urged lawmakers on Tuesday to move ahead with the EU-US trade pact even as Washington piles on new tariffs and legal uncertainty puts the agreement’s terms in doubt.

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The deal was abruptly frozen Monday after a ruling by the United States Supreme Court declared most of the tariffs imposed worldwide by the White House in 2025 illegal. Shortly after the ruling, US President Donald Trump announced new 10% duties on imports from US allies, including the EU.

“It is imperative we keep the process moving forward in implementing our commitments,” Šefčovič told MEPs. “A vote in plenary in March must remain our target, under the condition, of course, that we get more clarity from the US.”

Šefčovič also said his US counterparts had called him as of Saturday to “reassure” him that they will “stick” to the agreement if the EU “respect the deal.”

Commission pushes for vote

But the deal, clinched in July 2025 by Trump and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after weeks of trade brinkmanship, now hangs in the balance, and requires the approval of the European Parliament to enter into force.

Euronews has learned that during a meeting with European Parliament negotiators on Monday, Šefčovič pressed MEPs to proceed with a vote, arguing the EU should not hand Washington an argument that Brussels is failing to deliver.

Widely seen in Brussels as lopsided, the deal maintains 15% US tariffs on EU goods while the bloc scraps its own tariffs on US goods altogether and commits to invest hundreds of billions of euros in the US.

Since the Supreme Court ruling and the fallout in Washington, the European Commission has urged the White House to honour the deal and sought clarity on the next steps, as well as on the duration and scope of the new tariffs Trump announced after the ruling.

“Whatever was covered by the deal from July last year should still be covered,” Commission Chief Spokesperson Paula Pinho said.

Robert Carradine, the youngest of his prolific Hollywood family and whose biggest hit was the 1984 comedy “Revenge of the Nerds,” has died at 71.

In a Tuesday statement to news outlets, his family said he lived with bipolar disorder for two decades and died by suicide.

“We want people to know it, and there is no shame in it,” his brother Keith Carradine told Deadline. “It is an illness that got the best of him, and I want to celebrate him for his struggle with it, and celebrate his beautiful soul. He was profoundly gifted, and we will miss him every day.”

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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

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Known for both his film and television work, Robert Carradine worked steadily in the industry for over 40 years. Though he collaborated with some of the most respected directors of the day, he never gained the worldwide recognition of his more famous siblings Keith Carradine (also the father of Martha Plimpton) and half-brother David Carradine, who died in 2009.

Robert Carradine, a Los Angeles native and son to character actor John Carradine, was introduced to audiences with roles on the television series “Bonanza” in 1971 and in the John Wayne Western “The Cowboys” in 1972.

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Despite his family background, acting wasn’t his first calling, though.

“I always had a passion to be a race car driver, and that’s what I thought I was going to do, and at some penultimate moment … I think I was sitting with my brother David when ‘The Cowboys’ was being cast, and they were interested in David as the bad guy, and he didn’t want to be the guy that shot John Wayne in the back,” Carradine recalled in a 2013 interview with Popdose. “But he said, ‘You know, it is called The Cowboys, and they’re meeting all these young guys. Why don’t you go in?’”

In addition to starring in a short-lived television spinoff of “The Cowboys,” and appearing alongside David Carradine in his popular ABC series “Kung Fu,” he would go on to nab roles in Martin Scorsese’s “Mean Streets,” Hal Ashby’s Vietnam drama “Coming Home,” and Samuel Fuller’s World War II film “The Big Red One.”

The heights of his brother David’s success eluded Robert Carradine, but the two could often be seen in the same projects, including in Walter Hill’s “The Long Riders” and Paul Bartel’s “Cannonball.”

Robert Carradine’s biggest hit would come in 1984 with the off-color comedy “Revenge of the Nerds,” in which he played head nerd Lewis Skolnick, with his abrupt, infectious and guttural laugh. He reprised the role for the big-screen sequel and two made-for-television follow-ups, and continued to pay homage to the beloved character with a guest role on the series “Robot Chicken” and as a co-host (with “Revenge of the Nerds” co-star Curtis Armstrong) of the pop culture competition show “King of the Nerds,” which aired for three seasons.

In the 2000s, Carradine gained small-screen success in The Disney Channel’s “Lizzie McGuire” as the eponymous character’s father.

“It’s really hard to face this reality about an old friend,” Hilary Duff, who played Lizzie McGuire, wrote on Instagram. “There was so much warmth in the McGuire family and I always felt so cared for by my on-screen parents. I’ll be forever grateful for that. I’m deeply sad to learn Bobby was suffering.”

Work remained consistent even if the projects diminished in prestige and quality. Then Quentin Tarantino, ever the champion of fading character actors, cast Carradine in “Django Unchained” as one of the trackers in the 2012 film after seeing a “very furry” photograph, as Carradine told Popdose.

In 2015, Carradine was cited for a Colorado crash that injured him and his wife, Edith. They later divorced, after more than 25 years of marriage.

Carradine’s survivors include his three children, actor Ever Carradine, Marika Reed Carradine and Ian Alexander Carradine.

“Whenever anyone asks me how I turned out so normal, I always tell them it’s because of my dad. I knew my dad loved me, I knew it deep in my bones, and I always knew he had my back,” Ever Carradine wrote on Instagram. “I think it’s partly because we basically grew up together. Twenty years age difference really isn’t that much, and while I never ever thought of him as a sibling, I did always think of him as my partner. We were in it together.”

A new study aims to jolt Israel’s security and technology establishment into embracing a new post-Oct. 7, 2023, business model that will advance the U.S.-Israel strategic partnership in the heart of the Middle East and across the globe.

The Henry Jackson Society study titled “Israel 2048: A Blueprint for a Rising Asymmetric Geopolitical Power” jumps into the future, with a view toward advancing American and Israeli security interests.

Co-author of the report, Barak M. Seener, told Fox News Digital that America requires Israel for “its security architecture in the region via the Abraham Accords and, more broadly, will be a force multiplier regarding the technological edge against China.”

During President Donald Trump’s first term, his administration sealed diplomatic normalization deals between Sunni Gulf and North African countries: Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Sudan and Israel.

Seener and co-author David Wurmser argue that there is a pressing need to reframe the U.S.–Israel strategic partnership “around technology,” and “shift from military aid dependency towards joint R&D and investment in shared technological platforms in defence-tech, AI, quantum computing and next generational warfare capabilities.”

They wrote, “Israel must prioritize passing negotiated regulations for technology sharing to prevent AI/ quantum technology leakage to China.”

Seener noted that the Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy (released in January) describes Israel as a strategic military partner. “That has never happened before.”

He continued, “Israel is not only achieving regional dominance but international power by connecting trade routes and digital connectivity. Israel simply cannot remain in a purely defensive posture and hunker down and react to threats on its borders.” 

Seener said following Israel’s successful air war campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran in June 2025, “America now wants to be part of this success story. “

He argues that President Donald Trump entered on the side of Israel with military attacks because “Israel demonstrated intelligence acumen and military prowess. For the first time, America joined Israel” in the prosecution of a war.

TRUMP ADMIN LABELS ISRAEL ‘MODEL US ALLY’ AHEAD OF MAJOR MILITARY AID TALKS

Consequently, Seener said Israel’s “defense technology makes it indispensable for nations.”

Seener and Wurmser’s 51-page study contains granular information on how the U.S. can strengthen American security and recommend embedding “Israel as a defense-tech and deep-tech power that is indispensable to Western security and global technological competition in supply chains for AI, semiconductors, missile defense, cyber capabilities and critical materials. Israel’s technological dominance must be leveraged to anchor alliances and shape global supply chains.”

The wobbliness of America’s European partners is also highlighted to show the need for Israel to “Accelerate domestic lines of production of critical military systems, munitions and energy infrastructure to reduce vulnerability to foreign political pressure such as Europe’s growing ambivalence, coupled with episodic constraints on arms transfers,” according to the authors.

Earlier this month, Britain’s left-leaning government reportedly denied the U.S. military’s use of British bases to strike Iran.

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Israel is uniquely positioned to help regenerate relations among Western powers, the study notes. According to the authors, there is an opportunity to “use Israel’s defense-tech, quantum computing, AI and cyber capabilities as a tool of statecraft to deepen alliances, deter political isolation and strengthen influence in Europe, the Gulf and Asia.”

Seener said, “Israel is not a superpower but a geopolitical power that gives nations a force multiplier, and they benefit from Israel as a tech defense nation.”

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