EU-China Trade Tensions Undermine Anti-American Front On Climate Change

via The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF)
http://www.thegwpf.com

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.

Image result for Eu China Trump meeting

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.