Where does China stand after US trade deal with EU seen as ‘more rhetoric than substance’?

As a framework trade deal was struck between the United States and the European Union on the eve of a new round of trade talks between Beijing and Washington, analysts said China was in a position to stay calm and wait to see how the deal actually pans out, even if the US is likely to use it as a bargaining chip.

But Beijing should still be aware of the potential alliance between its two major trading partners in the economic sphere, as the US and EU could transform shared sore points into a united front against China, they added.

“The US may believe that, after essentially securing the EU, it will have greater negotiating leverage when dealing with China,” said Cui Hongjian, the head of EU studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

The EU agreed to purchase US$750 billion worth of American energy over three years, as well as hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of US military equipment, and invest more than US$600 billion above current levels in the world’s largest economy, US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced.

The two sides also agreed to drop tariffs to zero on a range of goods, including aircraft, plane parts, certain chemicals, certain generic drugs, semiconductor equipment and some agricultural products, von der Leyen said on Sunday.