China is pressuring the EU into an anti-U.S. trade alliance

Liu He and Jyrki Katainen.
(Image credit: WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images)

Retaliatory tariffs are so last month.

In response to President Trump's latest tariff load, China is trying to swap reluctant retaliation for an anti-U.S. trade alliance with the EU, Reuters reports. Senior Chinese diplomats reportedly keep trying to arrange a joint statement against Trump's policies, but European officials say the EU isn't onboard.

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The EU has continually rejected China's propositions, European diplomats tell Reuters. Instead, EU officials expect Europe and China to stick with their multilateral trade policies and pledge to modernize the World Trade Organization at the summit.

Chinese state media claims the EU has China's back, but that's very untrue, one European diplomat told Reuters. The EU shares America's concerns over Chinese trade manipulation but doesn't like that the U.S. is fighting it with sweeping tariffs, meaning China will eventually have to take "no" for an answer.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.