Trade tensions rise: EU says it will ‘respond firmly’ to any US pact breach

Brussels, Belgium: The EU executive on Thursday vowed to "respond firmly" to any violation of a key tariff deal by the United States after President Donald Trump announced new trade probes.

"We will be seeking further clarity from the US on how the opening of this section 301 investigation would interact with" the EU-US agreement struck last year, European Commission spokesman Olof Gill said.

"The commission would respond firmly and proportionately to any breach of the joint statement commitments," he added.

Earlier, the US initiated investigations against its trading partners, including India, China, Japan and the EU, to look into and address "unfair foreign practices" that adversely impact American manufacturing.

United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer announced the initiation of a probe regarding the "acts, policies, and practices" of various economies under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act of 1974, relating to structural excess capacity and production in manufacturing sectors.

The economies subject to these investigations are Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

The investigations will determine whether those acts, policies, and practices are unreasonable or discriminatory and burden or restrict US commerce, the USTR said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The United States will no longer sacrifice its industrial base to other countries that may be exporting their problems with excess capacity and production to us," Greer said in a statement.