Description: With the conclusion of the NATO Summit, European leaders met to discuss the latest US trade proposal before the 09 Jul deadline, when President Trump announced he would raise tariffs on several EU good in order to surpass the alleged trade deficit with the bloc. China has engaged in a diplomatic campaign of gathering potential trade partners and strengthening regional and global economic relations indirectly pitching the Union in reengaging towards their Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) which was stalled in 2021. China also reopened the fentanyl issue with the US by increasing export controls on several products and banning crucial precursors in an attempt to tackle the foreign pandemic caused in the US as part of their trade framework agreement. Bilateral relations on all fronts between the US and the EU have exasperatedly deteriorated but were recently reinvigorated with Trump’s engagement in the NATO Summit. The EU has also shown signs of reparation in terms of their relations with China by exempting several Chinese ministers of parliament from sanctions and reducing market requirements for Chinese companies across several industries.
Impact: The trilateral trade friction between the two largest global economies and the European bloc of countries emphasizes the conformation of global relations towards multilateralism. China has significantly increased its engagement with the EU in pursuit of alternative and stable markets as a substitute for the US conditioned trade arrangement which may draw the US towards expediently concluding its trade war. The EU finds itself largely dependent in terms of trade on both the US and China, relying on Chinese supply of rare earth components while engaging the US on multiple strategic fronts such as defense, trade and energy. EU’s dilemma is how to maintain the decades long partnership the US while developing relations with its trade partner in China, which positions the Union in a disadvantageous position against both China and the US. China’s multi – layered strategic approach would eventually ensure the country’s stability on the global stage and bolster its strategic dominance, subverting the US on several geopolitical fronts. The US trade priorities are currently aimed at securing the trade deal with China in order to impede China’s exponential export growth economy, as the two largest global economies continue to battle over geopolitical dominance. EU’s marginalization on the global stage highlights the Union’s internal divisions and embodies the bloc’s strategic disorientation which makes it susceptible towards leaning back to its strategic roots towards the US.