Commentary
As Washington steps up pressure on China and shows every intention of decoupling the U.S. and Chinese economies, the European Union (EU) finds itself in a bind.
Brussels clearly values China trade and does not want to lose it. At the same time, public support in Europe for China trade is narrowing, American pressure cannot be dismissed, and European leaders are having more and more trouble ignoring Beijing’s unfair trade policies. EU leadership would like to thread this needle and find a balanced middle way, but those efforts are becoming less sustainable.
America’s position has become increasingly harsh. For a long time, Washington, as well as U.S. business, chose to ignore Beijing’s abuses—the outright theft of intellectual property, the heavy use of domestic subsidies, and unusual conditions imposed on any who wanted to sell into China or source there. All are in violation of accepted practice, if not always outright violations of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. But as China’s economy has grown to greater prominence, ignoring such practices has become more difficult. The first American pushback occurred under the Trump administration, which tried to pressure change in Beijing by imposing hefty tariffs on Chinese goods entering the United States….