Deal or no deal? EU engages US, China on high-wire bargaining act

Europe must navigate between the two powers, knowing that cutting an economic deal with one could make it impossible to do so with the other

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Chinese President Xi Jinping meets European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Beijing in April 2023. The EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) has been frozen at the ratification stage by the European Parliament. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 1:00pm, 2 May 2025Updated: 2:16pm, 2 May 2025

For months, European Union leaders have been warning that they need to move smartly to survive in what they describe as “an era of hyper-competitive and hyper-transactional geopolitics”.

Now, as the bloc prepares to hit the negotiating tables with the world’s two major superpowers, its deal-making mettle is about to be put to the test.

On one side, it faces off against a China that is on an aggressive European charm offensive. Fresh from lifting retaliatory sanctions against some EU lawmakers, Beijing wants to convince Europe and other parties to unite in tackling US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and uphold the multilateral order.

On the other, it faces a United States that wants to force the world to cut their trading ties with China and choose Trump’s America, but which has shown little sign of being willing to make concessions for anyone willing to do so.

Caught in the middle, Europe must navigate between two powers from whom it wants to get economic carve-outs, knowing that cutting a deal with one could make it impossible to do so with the other.

Further complicating matters is the fact that the US and China are edging closer to negotiations of their own, with some fearing Europe could be left high and dry. It is no wonder officials in Brussels talk frequently about performing a “high-wire act”.