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The European Union on Thursday warned it would “respond firmly” to any violation of a key tariff agreement by the United States after President Donald Trump’s administration announced new trade investigations.
The probes focus on global overproduction and the import of goods made with forced labor, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Wednesday.
European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said Brussels would seek clarification from Washington about how the new investigation would affect the EU-U.S. agreement reached last year.
“We will be seeking further clarity from the US on how the opening of this Section 301 investigation would interact with” the EU-U.S. deal, Gill told reporters.
“The commission would respond firmly and proportionately to any breach of the joint statement commitments,” he added.
Gill said the European Union shares Washington’s concerns about structural overcapacity in the global economy.
“However, the sources of such overcapacity are well identified, and they do not lie in Europe,” he said.
The future of the EU-U.S. tariff agreement has been cast into doubt following a February ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that Trump lacks authority to impose tariffs under a 1977 law.
Trump later imposed new tariffs of 10% on imported goods.
Despite the move, the EU said it received assurances from Washington that the tariff agreement would still be respected.
The European Commission said the bloc remains committed to the deal and expects the United States to do the same.
“We have not received any indication that the U.S. administration intends to deviate from those commitments,” Gill said.
Lawmakers in the European Parliament’s trade committee are expected to vote next week on removing tariffs on U.S. industrial goods—a key step toward implementing the EU’s side of the agreement.
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