The Trump-Xi summit carries significant implications for Europe as Washington and Beijing negotiate trade, rare earths and artificial intelligence while the EU seeks to reduce its €1 billion a day trade deficit with China. The US-China trade truce expires in November, and Washington is expected to seek agreements on agriculture and non-tariff barriers, alongside possible tariff reductions — European Business Weekly informs.
Any easing could stabilise global trade, but a renewed confrontation could redirect Chinese exports towards European markets. Rare earths are another concern.
China dominates global production and processing, making supplies essential for European industry, while EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič has already raised the issue with Beijing.
The Iran war has added an energy dimension, pushing global prices higher and strengthening China’s leverage through its oil reserves, clean technology exports and role in regional energy markets.
AI is also increasingly strategic, with Washington and Beijing discussing an incident notification mechanism. Europe risks remaining outside the main strategic dialogue shaping technology, trade and energy security.
