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Are the EU and China hurtling towards a trade war?
- In Brussels, Beijing’s promises to individual EU states are seen through the lens of a combative and defensive China unwilling to yield on major issues
- For some members the potential return of Trump to the White House hastens the need for a stronger European approach
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Finbarr Berminghamin Brussels
Mounting frustration in Brussels and political intransigence in Beijing are nudging the European Union and China closer to a trade war, senior European officials fear.
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Last week, Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in Europe, painting China as a bastion of open markets and multilateralism during a keynote speech at the World Economic Forum global elite gathering at Davos.
Then on a trip to Dublin, he reopened the Chinese market to Irish beef products after they were suspended following an atypical case of BSE last year, and added Ireland to the list of EU countries granted visa-free access to China.
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But in Brussels, the promises are seen through the lens of a combative and defensive China behind closed doors that is unwilling to yield on major issues, including at last month’s EU-China summit in Beijing.
A sense is fomenting among senior sources that China is trying to buy time ahead of a crunch election year for Western democracies that could, potentially, weaken the Western alliance on issues ranging from China to Ukraine.
They see Beijing’s dangling of market access for its individual member states as attempts to dilute support for tougher measures on Beijing being cooked up by the European Commission. A series of working groups that the Chinese government has requested to discuss EU trade concerns, meanwhile, is also seen by some as a way for China to kick the can down the road.
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“We see them in the year ahead being in ‘drag-it-out mode’,” said a senior official. “After we were pretty explicit about the problems, they can expect one or two more actions if they don’t deliver.”
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