Those hoping that EU leaders might strike a more combative position against China at next week’s summit in Brussels are going to be disappointed.
June had been billed, by some EU official points, as a turning point in relations, with two major summits – G7 and European Council – and a series of meetings between EU and Chinese top trade officials.
The European Commission wants member states to support an ‘overcapacity instrument’ that would prevent China from deliberately over-producing steel and a raft of other products to depress prices and bankrupt European rivals.
The EU’s yawning trade deficit with China poses a long-term, systemic threat to the bloc’s economy that far outweighs the dangers from US president Donald Trump’s tariff threats.
On Tuesday (9 June), Beijing’s commerce vice-minister, Ling Ji, was due to meet with new EU trade director Ditte Juul Jorgensen in Brussels.
