Europe is on the brink of looking east rather than west for help as leaders cosy up to China for trade deals rather than America’s President Donald Trump. Euronews reports the first person European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen picked up the phone to was China after President Trump delivered his now famous “reciprocal tariffs” speech at the White House earlier this month.
An official statement from the European Commission said: “In response to the widespread disruption caused by the US tariffs, President von der Leyen stressed the responsibility of Europe and China, as two of the world’s largest markets, to support a strong reformed trading system, free, fair and founded on a level playing field.
Beijing reciprocated with a warm message of their own saying “China is ready to work with the European side to promote the sound and steady development of China-EU relations”.
But in the background a deal was also being struck to end a long-running bugbear for the Chinese in trade relations with Europe, as European Union bosses become increasingly desperate to boost trade.
On Friday night the EU Commission revealed during talks with China a major concession had been agreed to look at options to resolve the block on imports of China-made electric vehicles, perhaps by introducing a minimum pricing initiative.
A source told Euronews: “The EU wants and needs to be seen as a reliable partner in the world.
“In that sense, the discussion with China is evolving because China is looking at us differently. I don’t think the European approach towards China has changed completely, but the winds are moving.”
Meanwhile, the European commissioner for trade and economic security, Maros Sefcovic, travelled to Washington today (Sunday) and is due to hold talks with US officials.
It comes after US President Donald Trump announced he is putting a 90-day pause on US tariffs, while the EU confirmed it will also pause its countermeasures.
In what seemed like another U-turn on his trumpeted tariffs, President Trump’s administration said on Friday it would exclude electronics such as smartphones and laptops from reciprocal tariffs against China.
This means goods made by the likes of US tech giant Apple, which relies on China for manufacturing, won’t be subject to the 145% tariffs levied on the country.
The exemption seemed to reflect Mr Trump’s realisation that his China tariffs are unlikely to shift more manufacturing of smartphones, computers and other gadgets to the US any time soon.
