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

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.

Both the EU and China have been victims of Trump's steep tariffs over the last few months. But China is getting tired of punching back, prompting the country's vice premier and top diplomat to meet with European leaders in an attempt to arrange an anti-American trade alliance, which they want to announce at an EU-China summit later this month. China has even offered the EU access to more of its market in hopes of sweetening the deal, Reuters says.

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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.