Next Friday, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, will receive the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, in Washington for the celebration of a new summit between both blocks in an especially delicate moment geopolitically speaking.
They will inevitably talk about Ukraine and how to maintain economic, military and political aid for “as long as it is necessary.” They will talk about Israel and Gaza, for which the high representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, will also travel. But they will also and above all talk about two of the most important and delicate things, although apparently less urgent: China and bilateral economic and trade relations.
China is the great North American obsession. He puts it in every meeting, in every format, at every level. It is more evident in NATO, where the allies end up positioning themselves much more aggressively than when they are under another framework, but it is always seen. And that is why it is not surprising that Biden’s Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, chose the Chinese issue when addressing the Eurogroup finance ministers this Monday in Luxembourg. It was the third participation of the former president of the Federal Reserve before the European ministers since she came to office and after guaranteeing that support for Ukraine will be maintained, no matter what happens with the country’s next Budget, she addressed the issue that most obsesses in Washington.
“Collaboration between the United States and the EU is also crucial in our respective economic relations with China. We are not seeking to decouple our economy from China’s, we are seeking to diversify. Reduce risk, not decouple, as President Von der Leyen rightly put it. “In protecting our national security interests, we seek open and direct communication to avoid misunderstandings and miscalculations,” the American recalled. “As we deepen communication and pursue a healthy economic relationship with China, we are also focused on taking specific actions to safeguard our national security interests (and those of our allies) and protect human rights. Our investment work in abroad is a key and specific national security measure.
In August, Biden issued an Executive Order addressing certain investments in sensitive technologies such as semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies, and artificial intelligence. The Treasury Department is currently implementing this program but “as with many of the risks we face, the concerns that informed this approach are not unique to the United States,” said Yellen, who seeks to draw Europe even closer to her side. hard position.
Biden will pressure his partners, but the cards are clear and on the table. The EU appears willing to accept American pressure to join a sort of steel and aluminum club, but only in exchange for Washington abandoning its threat to reimpose tariffs on metal imports from Europe. And all this seasoned with a distance of both towards Beijing.
Asked about tariffs, Yellen and Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis have said that there was no in-depth discussion today, that it was not the time and place, and that it will be one of the main topics next Friday. And there is a lot of division here. Donald Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum, Europe responded with many other products and there was a suspension, not revocation, by Biden in 2021. Negotiations have been underway since then.
Many capitals (and the General Directorate of Commerce of the Commission itself, which has had the same line for decades) want to return to a level without tariffs, but the White House is pushing for very clear protectionist thresholds for third countries, unconsidered rivals. non-market economies. And Von der Leyen, considered the most Atlanticist among European leaders, and according to many diplomatic sources Biden’s favorite to be the next secretary general of NATO, seems more than willing to accept.