{"id":23645,"date":"2025-04-16T02:54:09","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T02:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/23645\/"},"modified":"2025-04-16T02:54:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T02:54:09","slug":"opinion-time-for-the-eu-to-stop-outsourcing-its-china-policy-to-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/23645\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion | Time for the EU to stop outsourcing its China policy to the US"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2025, Europe stands adrift in geopolitical limbo. As Washington sets the tempo and Beijing expands its reach, the European Union<\/a> clings to ambiguity. Brussels\u2019 inability to formulate a coherent China policy has left it vulnerable precisely when autonomy matters most.Donald Trump\u2019s re-election as US president has shattered Europe\u2019s diplomatic complacency, revealing the cost of years spent deferring to American leadership. Confronted with a combative White House,the EU now needs a functional relationship with China as a counterweight \u2013 yet finds itself without the framework to build one. Beijing, meanwhile, watches with growing impatience<\/a>, having expected the EU to meet this moment with determination.Indeed, three months into Trump\u2019s second term, China still waits for a coordinated EU response to American unilateralism. Instead, it encounters weakness, division and indecision \u2013 paralysis rooted not only in Brussels\u2019 approach to Washington, but in its unresolved posture toward Beijing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This inertia can be traced back to the bloc\u2019s 2019 strategic outlook. Rather than providing clarity, it institutionalised confusion by labelling China a \u201ccooperation partner\u201d, \u201cnegotiating partner\u201d, \u201ceconomic competitor\u201d and \u201csystemic rival\u201d. What leaders presented as balance came off as an indecisiveness formalised into policy.<\/p>\n

In the years that followed, Brussels outsourced its China policy to Washington. Multiple so-called European measures \u2013 5G restrictions<\/a>, semiconductor export bans<\/a> or tariffs on electric vehicles<\/a> \u2013 often dovetailed with US policy. Europe didn\u2019t lead; the EU merely rebranded American initiatives as its own strategy, mistaking imitation for direction.<\/p>\n

The result is the absence of a coherent approach towards one of Europe\u2019s top trading partners. The evidence speaks loudly. Despite repeated threats of tougher measures, the EU recorded a trade deficit of \u20ac304.5 billion (US$345 billion) with China in 2024, a 4.6 per cent increase over the previous year, while European manufacturers lost market share in China. The gap between EU rhetoric and economic outcomes eroded Brussels\u2019 credibility.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2025, Europe stands adrift in geopolitical limbo. As Washington sets the tempo and Beijing expands its reach,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[11575,3801,11330,1395,14785,32,1305,2000,299,5187,2557,1699,2596,2820,5338,14782,7497,13630,14784,657,1220,14783,1773],"class_list":{"0":"post-23645","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-5g","9":"tag-beijing","10":"tag-brussels","11":"tag-china","12":"tag-covid-19-pandemic","13":"tag-donald-trump","14":"tag-electric-vehicles","15":"tag-eu","16":"tag-europe","17":"tag-european","18":"tag-european-commission","19":"tag-european-union","20":"tag-kaja-kallas","21":"tag-marco-rubio","22":"tag-pedro-sanchez","23":"tag-semiconductor-export-bans","24":"tag-strategic-autonomy","25":"tag-supply-chain-disruptions","26":"tag-trade-deficits","27":"tag-ukraine","28":"tag-ursula-von-der-leyen","29":"tag-us-china-rivalry","30":"tag-xi-jinping"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114345388486305237","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}