EU-China trade tensions undermine climate unity

Summit gets bogged down in tough talks on steel dumping.

Europe and China’s efforts to show a common front on climate change against U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday stumbled when Brussels and Beijing failed to bridge their differences on trade.

At an annual EU-China summit shadowed by Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord, top EU officials and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang agreed on policies against global warming and the challenges posed by North Korea but did not resolve core disagreements on trade policy.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker went so far as to suggest that China’s continuing overproduction of steel was helping to fan populist political sentiment in Europe.

“Chinese steel overcapacity is now more than double the EU’s total capacity,” Juncker told the EU-China business summit with Li on Friday morning. “If we fail to make progress … the only winners will be political forces that oppose the progress we seek.”

The continuing impasse over tariffs on Chinese steel and other goods imposed by the EU because of overproduction highlighted the difficulties Brussel and Beijing face in forging a closer political alliance, even as leaders seem eager to fill an international leadership vacuum created by Trump’s retreat.

A concluding news conference by Juncker, Li and European Council President Donald Tusk was delayed by four hours as the two sides prolonged their talks in the vain hope of bridging the divide on trade.

Tusk, in his opening remarks, stressed that the EU and China remained committed to the Paris agreement.

“Today, we are stepping up our cooperation on climate change with China,” Tusk said. “Which means that today, China and Europe have demonstrated solidarity with future generations and responsibility for the whole planet. We are convinced that yesterday’s decision by the United States to leave the Paris agreement is a big mistake.”

He added, “The fight against climate change, and all the research, innovation and technological progress it will bring, will continue, with or without the U.S.”

Shock waves

Li also alluded to the shock waves that Trump has set off in global affairs. While he did not name the U.S. president, there was no mistaking his references.

“There have been changes in the international situation and there have been rising uncertainties and destabilizing factors,” Li said. “Under such circumstances, it is important for China-Euro relations to become more stable. And a stable China-EU relationship is useful to counter the uncertainties in this world.”

“We believe that it is important for us to advance globalization and make it more inclusive, equitable and beneficial to all,” Li continued. “Globalization is the compelling trend.”

But for all the common cause at such a topsy-turvy time, the EU and China remain in sharp disagreement over key trade policies.

Juncker put that issue at the center of the summit, opening and ending with it, and a Commission official said the topic was predominant in closed-doors talks as well.

The official said the delay of the closing news conference was a result of “tough negotiations about language on steel dumping,” with China demanding that Europe drop all of its anti-dumping tariffs against China.

“We are able to narrow the positions but we are not yet there,” Juncker said.