An unexpected customs threat from US President Donald Trump has emerged amid growing frustration within his economic team over the EU's approach to relations with China. In particular, it concerns the EU's reluctance to introduce new tariffs on Chinese industry, reports The Wall Street Journal, writes UNN.
Details
The United States has not yet received a commitment from EU leaders to introduce new tariffs on Chinese industry, which is a priority for Trump administration officials seeking to increase trade pressure on Beijing.
As part of separate trade negotiations with the United States, Great Britain has agreed to move towards introducing tariffs on Chinese steel, sources said. This helped to secure a trade agreement between the United States and Great Britain, which Trump announced this month.
In turn, EU officials expressed their willingness to cooperate with countries with non-market economies, such as China.
EU officials sought to find a compromise position in response to the US actions, which would be less aggressive than China's trade measures, but more assertive than the UK's. Several EU ministers recently stated that they would not be satisfied with a trade agreement that would maintain 10% tariffs.
Discussions related to China are part of a US strategy aimed at pushing trade partners to sanction the world's second-largest economy by negotiating so-called reciprocal tariffs by Trump, which were introduced in early April and then suspended for 90 days to allow for negotiations.
The US strategy aims to limit China's participation in other economies, particularly in strategic sectors such as steel, and to push other countries to apply tariffs to Chinese goods to counter state subsidies provided by Beijing, which make its products more competitive worldwide.
China remains an important market for EU exports, and European leaders are reluctant to start a high-profile trade war with Beijing.
The US has made similar "economic security" requests related to China to other key trading partners, such as Japan and South Korea, sources familiar with the negotiations said, although no commitments have yet been made public.
Earlier, the EU approved tariffs on imports from the US worth 21 billion euros, equivalent to approximately 24 billion dollars, but suspended these tariffs after the Trump administration announced a 90-day pause on some US tariffs. The EU may also introduce a second set of goods worth up to 95 billion euros if negotiations with the US break down.
Let us remind you
President Donald Trump stated that negotiations with Brussels are not leading to anything and recommends introducing a 50% duty on imports of goods from the European Union from June 1, 2025.