On "Forbes Newsroom", Fellow at the European Foreign Relations Council, Liana Fix, discusses how Europe can navigate through the ongoing discussions between the United States and China over trade and tariffs.
Category
đ
NewsTranscript
00:00As we think about plans, strategies, and next steps, you mentioned a NATO meeting at the end of June. What are the other events on the calendar that might prove important diplomatic moments, either for the U.S., China, Europe, or all entities together?
00:15Yeah, so basically, all have to make it somehow to the summer. And if we reach that point, that will all be good, because there's a G7 meeting. And again, there is the NATO summit at the end of June in The Hague. And the conflation, as I said before, of the trade and tariff issue with security discussions will be, plus you have also ongoing Ukraine ceasefire discussions, which can also have implications on how the Trump administration views Europe and its allies.
00:43So that's something until the end of June to look out for the G7 meeting, the NATO meeting. But certainly unexpected events are with this administration and in this world to be expected.
00:58And are there any meetings between the EU and China on the books? I'm wondering if Beijing's Monday announcement about don't collaborate with the Americans provoked an opposite reaction wherein countries are now calling Beijing to make deals with Beijing.
01:12Yeah, absolutely. You're right. There is an EU-China summit, which is planned. Originally, Xi Jinping was expected to come to Brussels. Probably now the Europeans will come to Beijing. That is planned for July. And that, again, will have big questions for Europeans if they take the summit and the preparations for that as basically an opportunity to show to the United States, well, look, we have alternatives. We don't have to work with you.
01:38That's something that has been advocated by some in Europe. They say we can't afford a two-front trade war with the United States and China. Let's get closer to China. They are more reasonable at the moment. There's little to lose for us.
01:52In reality, there is a risk that Europeans might see China in naive terms again just because they are so frustrated with Donald Trump because, again, China's overcapacity challenge is a huge challenge for European industries, at least as big as Trump's tariff challenge.
02:11And then, again, China is also a threat to Europe's security through its support for Russia's war. So it is an easy temptation to go in and see China as Europe's answer to Donald Trump. But that's something that Europeans should proceed with with care.