Who could imagine that EU Commission President Von der Leyen, who has always been labeled as "pro-US" and "strong to China", has initially released a signal to China after Trump adjusted the tariff policy on the EU.
This wave of operations not only caused an uproar in the international community, but also made many people curious about what impact the tariff game between the United States and Europe had on the EU that caused Von der Leyen's attitude towards China to undergo such a big change.
To talk about the source of this matter, we have to start with Trump's "America First" policy.
Previously, the tariffs between the United States and Europe in the field of automobile trade were fairly balanced. The United States imposed a 2.5% tariff on EU cars, and the EU imposed a 10% tariff on American cars.
But after Trump came to power, he directly swung the tariffs, threatening to mention 25% tariffs on EU cars if the EU does not promise to reduce tariffs.
Faced with this tough pressure, the EU wanted to bargain at first, but in the end it couldn't bear it and had to compromise.
The two sides reached an agreement, the United States announced to reduce tariffs on imported cars in the EU to 15%, and the EU promised to impose zero tariffs on American cars, had thought this matter was so decided, and did not expect the subsequent trouble to continue.
According to the agreement, the United States and Europe should issue a joint statement confirming the content within a few days after the agreement was reached, but until now, this statement has not been reflected.
A spokesman for the European Commission said on Monday that the European Commission had returned the draft joint statement to the United States, and the negotiations between the two sides are still ongoing.
The reason for this is because the two sides are unable to argue about the phrase "non-tariff barriers".
The United States considers the EU's Digital Services Act to be a "non-tariff barrier" against U.S. tech giants, and wants the EU to make concessions in this regard, but the EU has made it clear that the relevant legislation is its own sovereign policy and is not within the scope of trade negotiations.
What worries the EU even more is the implementation of automobile tariffs. According to the agreement, the United States imposed a unified tariff of 15% on most EU products exported to the United States, covering core areas such as automobiles. However, when the policy came into effect on August 7th, the tariff on EU cars exported to the United States did not drop at all, and it still maintained a high tax rate of 27.5%, which was obtained from the original 2.5% MFN tariff plus the 25% tariff imposed this year.
The EU originally expected Trump to sign an executive order before August 15th to implement the tax reduction, but the White House said that it would not act until the joint statement was negotiated.
This tariff cannot be reduced, and the ones most seriously injured are German automobile companies. The revenue and profits of the three major car dealers, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen, all fell sharply in the first half of the year. Reports show that due to factors such as U.S. tariffs, the cash flow of these three major car dealers may decrease by 10 billion euros this year.
Other contents of the US-EU tariff agreement are also full of uncertainty. The EU has promised to buy US$750 billion in U.S. energy products in the next three years and increase US$600 billion in investment in the United States.
If you look at the actual situation, last year the EU imported less than $80 billion of energy products from the United States, to reach $25 billion in annual imports, must more than double last year's basis, which far exceeds the actual demand of the European Union, the United States can not provide that much of the supply, after all, the total US energy exports last year just over $300 billion.
As for the $60 billion investment in the United States, it seems unrealistic.
The White House initially highlighted the promise of the EU, but within hours, senior officials of the European Commission clarified that it was only the investment intention of the business community, the EU can not guarantee, after all, the money comes from private companies, and the EU has not introduced incentives, not even a timetable.
You must know that the EU invested only 62.2 billion euros in the United States last year, but now it needs to invest 200 billion US dollars every year, almost 173 billion euros, which has to nearly triple from last year. You can imagine the difficulty.
Bernd Lange, chairman of the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament, bluntly said that this investment promise is more unrealistic than buying American energy.
These contradictions between the U.S. and Europe have also exploded inside the EU. France and other countries are dissatisfied with the EU's yield to the U.S. in the tariff agreement, and feel that the EU's strategic autonomy is seriously challenged.
On September 24, during his presence at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Von der Leyen held a face-to-face meeting with the Chinese side.
You must know that she always criticized China in a high profile in the past. Take the Russia-Ukraine conflict as an example. She once accused China of "supporting Russia's war economy" and had a very tough attitude. But in this meeting, her tone was obviously much gentler.
During the talks, von der Leyen made it clear that the EU would decide the tariff issue independently, and declined Trump's proposal to ask the EU to impose tariffs on China and India. This means obviously that the EU does not want to follow the United States completely.
On the Russia-Ukraine issue, she no longer asks China to put pressure on Russia. Instead, she hopes that China can use its relations with Russia to push Putin back to the negotiating table and use China's influence to ease the situation.
On the issue of climate change, Von der Leyen’s stance is even more contrary to Trump’s. Trump has publicly questioned green energy at the United Nations General Assembly, calling global climate action “a scam,” and also criticized China’s export of wind power equipment.
Coh von der Leyen actively affirmed China's efforts in the field of climate change, appreciated China's demonstrative role, and expressed the willingness to deepen cooperation with China in the field of climate, promote the green transition of both sides, and jointly promote global sustainable development.
She also mentioned that she hoped to achieve new cooperation results with China in trade and investment, environmental protection, development assistance and other fields.
In fact, Von der Leyen's change in attitude towards China is also related to Trump's performance at the United Nations General Assembly.
Trump not only suddenly changed his attitude towards the Ukraine issue, but also asked the EU to increase tariffs on China and India. This made the EU truly feel the capriciousness of U.S. policies and realize that relying solely on the United States cannot safeguard its own interests.
Now the change of von der Leyen's attitude is a certain thing, which also brings new possibilities for China-EU cooperation.
However, everyone is also very concerned about whether the EU can implement its verbal commitments. After all, the improvement of China-EU relations is not enough to rely solely on leaders 'statements. It also depends on the pragmatic cooperation between the two sides in specific fields.
Especially in the fields of trade and technology, whether the EU can withstand US pressure, hold on to its position, and work closely with China will still take time to verify.
Article/Editor: Money Junkies