Two weeks after the expiry of August 1st, the positions of Washington and Brussels remain distant. The real knot? Relations between EU and China
Brussels is preparing for the hard line against Donald Trump on the duties? On Monday, EU trade ministers defined the 30%rates “absolutely unacceptable”, threatened by the American president. In this context, it was also made to know that they would be the study of countermeasures against the White House.
“I am absolutely 100% safe that a negotiated solution is far better than the tension that we could have after August 1st”said the European Commissioner to Commerce, Maros Sefcovic, and then continue: “We must be prepared for all the consequences”. “The EU remains ready to react and this includes solid and proportionate countermeasures, if necessary,” added the Danish Foreign Minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen.
On Sunday, Ursula von der Leyen had announced a suspension of the European return measures, in an attempt to conclude a commercial agreement with Washington by the expiry of August 1st. All this, while there was no unanimity from the 27 on the approach to follow: if France was on barricadier positions, Italy moved to safeguard the transatlantic relationships. Germany, on the other hand, chose a sort of middle of the middle of Paris and Rome.
“The United States of America have been robbed in trade (and in the army!), By friends and enemies, in the same way, for decades. This cost thousands of billions of dollars, and the situation is no longer sustainable – and it has never been! The countries should stop and say: ‘Thanks for the many years of freedom, but we know that now you have to do what is right for America’. We should reply saying: ‘Thanks for understanding the situation in which we find ourselves, “Trump said, for his part.
In short, while the expiry of August 1 is approaching, Washington and Brussels seem, at least for the moment, remain distant. The real knot lies in the fact that European negotiators have basically misrepresented the logic that the American president on commercial dossiers is moving. For Trump, the duties, before an economic issue, represent a national policy and security.
In this sense, in addition to the rates applied by the White House on sectors considered strategic (starting with steel), one of the main problems concerns China. Trump has not appreciated at all that, especially in the last two years, France and Germany have further strengthened their relations with Beijing, also pushing Brussels to do the same. Well, it should not be neglected that, according to Politicalon July 24, the Von der Leyen is expected in the People’s Republic for the UE-China summit.
It cannot therefore be excluded that Trump’s recent letter on the duties in Brussels is (also) a form of pressure in view of this appointment. In fact, the American president wants European countries to loosen their economic and political relations with the dragon. Not surprisingly, the White House is attempting a not easy maneuver to tenglia, to try to put China in difficulty: it is, for example, in this sense that it has recently concluded a commercial agreement with Vietnam.
