Europe is not an easy ally against China, former US trade representative Charlene Barshefsky says
- ‘Europe will end up doing a balancing act,’ says Barshefsky
- China overtook the US to become the top trading partner with the European Union in 2020
The United States should realise that it is not going to be easy to get European allies on board to fight China because of the different priorities each country faces, a former top US trade negotiator said on Wednesday.
“Europe might think of China differently from the United States, and therefore might be less capable of joining the United States’ effort” in its battle against China, said Charlene Barshefsky, former United States trade representative under the Clinton administration, at an event hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce.
“As we look at the European picture, the constraints they are under, the general interests that we hold in common, Europe will end up doing a balancing act,” said Barshefsky, who had led the negotiation with China for its entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001. She is now chair at Parkside Global Advisors.
And a balancing act “implies the US doesn’t get everything it wants”, said Barshefsky, referring to the difficulty the US is likely facing in convincing its European counterparts to curtail trades in technology, restrain business transactions and join in on sanctions against China.
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For one, Europe is highly dependent on China in its exports. In 2020, China overtook the US to become the top trading partner with the European Union, with goods and services traded reaching US$709 billion, compared to the US$671 billion traded between the EU and the US, according to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office.