EU trade chief plans China visit amid soaring tensions with Donald Trump

The European Union’s trade chief Maros Sefcovic intends to visit China at the end of March, according to people familiar with the plan. It will mark his first trip to Beijing as commissioner for trade and economic security and comes after a maiden visit last week to Washington, where he made initial contacts with the Trump administration’s top trade and commerce officials. Sefcovic, a veteran commissioner who took on a new portfolio in December, will meet with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. Wang invited the Slovakian to China earlier this year, but it is understood Sefcovic delayed because he wanted to visit the US first. Now that this has been completed, Sefcovic is ready for a sit-down with Wang to discuss the many grievances in the bilateral relationship. In recent years trade ties have frayed with Europe frustrated by Beijing’s unwillingness to acknowledge and address the industrial overcapacity in its system. Brussels claims that this results in cheap exports arriving in the EU and endangering local industries. The pair have clashed over an electric vehicle dispute, with the EU slapping heavy tariffs on Chinese-made imports last October, after an investigation found extensive subsidies in the supply chain. For years, the EU has also been asking Beijing to improve market access for European firms, with little to show for it. However, with the transatlantic alliance in disarray, there may be a more positive agenda for Sefcovic in China than his recent predecessors. US President Donald Trump has performed a stunning about-turn over the war in Ukraine, and now appears to be favouring the aggressor, Russia, which launched the conflict three years ago with a full-scale invasion. At the United Nations this week, the US voted with Russia, North Korea, Belarus, Hungary, Israel and a small number of other states in a vote condemning Russian aggression to mark the third anniversary of the war. The US joined the countries in refusing to blame Russia for its invasion, contrary to a Europe-backed resolution. The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, was scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Wednesday, but the meeting was abruptly cancelled, her spokesman said. Later on Wednesday, Trump vowed to slap a 25 per cent tariff on goods made in the EU, saying the bloc was “formed to screw” the US. In Europe, there is much talk about cooling ties with China to avoid having too many open fronts. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in two recent speeches that the door was open for the EU to deepen commercial relations with Beijing. “There is also room to engage constructively with China – and find solutions in our mutual interest. And I think we can find agreements that could even expand our trade and investment ties,” von der Leyen told EU ambassadors in a speech in Brussels earlier this month. “It is a fine line that we need to walk. But it can lead us to a fairer and more balanced relationship with one of the world’s economic giants. And that can make sense for Europe,” she added. But von der Leyen further recommitted to de-risking the relationship, saying “we have seen growing imbalances and risks which come with doing business with China”. “We need to rebalance this relationship and ensure that our trade and investment relations makes sense for Europe … both for its economy and its security. So we will keep de-risking our economic relationship, as we have been doing in recent years.” During his trip to Washington last week, where he met Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett, Sefcovic floated the idea of working with Trump on some areas of China policy, including countering industrial overcapacity. “I know that President Trump is a big deal maker and there was an idea to have [a] kind of impressive grand bargain package. So let’s discuss all these things,” said Sefcovic last Wednesday, calling himself “a true believer” in the transatlantic relationship. That said, insiders believe it to be “impossible” that such an arrangement could be made, with Trump also promising to impose extensive tariffs on European goods. An exchange of EU-US tariffs is expected next month, with Trump vowing to ratchet up duties on European steel and aluminium and to slap “reciprocal tariffs” on all imports. For its part, Brussels has pledged to respond in kind and is considering using a powerful “anti-coercion instrument” should the predicted trade war morph into a broader dispute over geopolitics and digital services. Sefcovic’s trip would come after an uptick in bilateral engagements between the EU and China. Foreign Minister Wang Yi met several EU counterparts in Germany this month as well as stopped off in Ireland and Britain. Hua Chunying, a vice-foreign minister, was in Brussels last week, while Ma Zhaoxu, who holds the same position, travelled to Paris on Tuesday for talks with the French foreign ministry.

EU trade chief plans China visit amid soaring tensions with Donald Trump

Bilateral grievances sure to be on the agenda, although problems between Europe and US could provide space for positive discussions