Amid escalating trade war with the US, the EU reached out to China on Tuesday in a telephone exchange between Ursula von der Leyen and Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke to Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang offering “a negotiated resolution” to “the widespread disruption caused by the US tariffs” on Tuesday, according to a statement from the executive.
Von der Leyen “underscored the vital importance of stability and predictability for the global economy” during the call, the statement said, stressing “the responsibility of Europe and China, as two of world's largest markets, to support a strong reformed trading system, free, fair and founded on a level playing field.”
China has retaliated to the imposition of 54% tariffs on its goods by the US by slapping 34% tariffs on all US imports.
Von der Leyen urged Li Qiang of “the need to avoid further escalation”, the statement said.
At the end of March, Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič visited China in a bid to renew diplomatic ties with the Asian giant against a background of worsening trade relations between the pair.
The EU is seeking to fight overcapacities that threaten to spill over onto the European market after being diverted from the US because of the tariffs imposed by the US administration. According to the Commission statement, von der Leyen and Li Qiang “discussed setting up a mechanism for tracking possible trade diversion.”
Von der Leyen announced on Monday that the EU will strengthen its work on overcapacities by setting up an “Import Surveillance Task Force”.
“We will work with industry to make sure we have the necessary evidence base for our policy measures,” she said.
EU-China relations were on the agenda at Monday's meeting of EU trade ministers in Luxembourg. Asked whether the EU intended to pivot towards China amid worsening trade relations with the US, an EU diplomat said: “We will not trade-off US relations for China relations...Our aim is not to deteriorate transatlantic relations.”
The EU is still hoping to find a negotiated solution with the US since the American administration imposed a series of tariffs on EU imports.