European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called on China to work for a negotiated solution to the problems caused by the new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. This was made clear in an official statement from her office after a telephone conversation with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, reports "Reuters", quoted by News.bg.
„Von der Leyen stressed the responsibility of Europe and China, as two of the world's largest markets, to support a strong, reformed trading system — free, fair and based on a level playing field“, the statement said.
The two leaders discussed the creation of a mechanism to monitor possible trade deviations related to the new US tariffs. Brussels fears that Chinese exports to the US could be redirected to Europe, bypassing tariff barriers and putting pressure on European markets.
Von der Leyen did not comment publicly on whether the European Union was considering its own retaliatory measures against the US or China, but stressed the need for a coordinated and balanced response that would preserve the stability of the global trading system.
The conversation between Brussels and Beijing comes amid growing tensions in the global economy, sparked by the US decision to impose 10% basic and up to 50% targeted tariffs on imported goods from dozens of countries, including allies such as Japan and Israel.
China has described as “blackmail“ US President Donald Trump's threat to impose additional tariffs of 50% on its goods after he demanded that Beijing withdraw its plans for counter-tariffs.
If neither side backs down and Trump sticks to his plans, the total amount of new duties could rise to 104% this year on Chinese goods imported into the US. That would escalate the trade war, which has already caused the biggest market losses since the pandemic.