The Strategist

China and the EU unite to fight against protectionism



06/25/2018 - 16:12



China and the European Union have agreed to strongly oppose unilateralism and protectionism and not allow such practices to have an impact on the world economy or even lead to a recession.



Friends of Europe via flickr
Friends of Europe via flickr
Both sides pledged to protect the multilateral trading system, Vice Premier of the State Council Liu He said on Monday after meeting with European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen. Both sides are getting ready to resist the tariff threats of US President Donald Trump.

"One-sidedness is growing, and trade tensions have emerged in large economies," Bloomberg said, "China and the EU strongly oppose unilateral trade and protectionism and believe that these actions can lead to recession and turbulence in the global economy."

The trade war between the US and China keeps gaining momentum: Trump threatens to restrict Chinese investment in US companies.

Last week, Trump said he instructed the US trade representative to prepare a list of Chinese goods worth $ 200 billion, against which additional duties of 10% could be imposed.

This happened after the State Council of China approved introduction of an additional duty of 25% on 659 names of American goods worth about $ 50 billion. In turn, Beijing's actions became a response to the introduction of US duties at a rate of 25% on imported products from China for $ 50 billion.

On Friday, the European Union imposed duties of 25% on US goods valued at € 2.8 billion in response to US duties on steel and aluminum. In total, the response measures of the EU will affect about 200 categories of goods from the United States. In this regard, the US president threatened to introduce additional duties cars from Europe.

While tensions in trade are intensifying, China seeks to forge relations with Europe for a more successful confrontation with the United States. Both sides agreed on Monday to promote globalization and to work out a consensus on climate change, Liu said.

Nevertheless, the EU and China have disagreements on a number of issues, including insufficient access to the Chinese market for European firms and the EU's reluctance to endorse Beijing's One Belt One Road Initiative. As China is building up its presence in Europe, the EU is working on measures to tighten control over external investment to protect critical technologies and key infrastructure.

China and the EU will exchange proposals for access to markets at the upcoming summit in July, Liu said on Monday. He also said that both sides agreed to link the One Belt One Road Initiative with the EU development strategies.

source: reuters.com




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