The trade war that the American president triggered the economies in each end of the Eurasian continent and solidarity in the test would seem to be going well. The situation is nevertheless complicated by the fact that tensions are lively between China and the EU. The reproaches that Washington addressed to Beijing are comparable to those that Brussels could formulate.
China, which bought its all its oil production, supports Iran only with lips
Vertiginous trade deficit
If the relations between the two parties have been spectacularly developed in half a century, the profits have not been fairly shared if one judges by a trade deficit which has continued to widen at the expense of Europeans. Today it exceeds 300 billion euros (which means that if Europe buys 518 billion from China, it only sells it for 213 billion …), an amount of the same order as the Sino-American deficit (295 billion dollars). And in ten years, since 2015, far from being absorbed, this deficit has almost doubled.
Brussels, like Washington, reproaches Beijing unfair practices, which range from protectionist measures braking imports of foreign products, to subsidies granted to Chinese companies which are therefore advantaged in export markets. The EU reacted by taxing certain Chinese products, whether solar panels or electric cars. China has retaliated by sometimes hitting niche products, but highly symbolic, such as French cognac.
Trump says “get along well with China” and sweeps accusations of hostile acts
The Ukrainian obstacle
If Wang Yi intends to carry out a mission of appeasement, he is not frankly helped by his colleagues in Beijing. On Monday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced the maintenance of anti-dumping rights imposed since 2019 on certain steel products from the EU, the United Kingdom and other countries such as South Korea …
Beijing causes Trump and makes South American countries soft
To the commercial friction is added political difficulties. If we obviously care, in Brussels, human rights in China, the fate of the Tibetan and Uighur minorities, or the situation in Hong Kong (where democracy has lived), Beijing support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine constitutes, on the other hand, a major problem. China has taken care not to provide too visible military support in Moscow, but its diplomatic support, which does not seem to weaken when the conflict is bogged down, can only prevent the revival of a Sino-European cooperation based on confidence.
