The president of the european Council Donald Tusk and us president Donald Trump, in Brussels, Belgium, may 25, 2017 (Photo EMMANUEL DUNAND. AFP)
The leaders of the european Union visit Monday and Tuesday in Beijing and Tokyo to strengthen trade relations with these two countries in order to block if the american president Donald Trump triggers a trade war in the world.
The asian tour of the representatives of the european Union is part of a process of alliances forged by the EU – 28 countries, 500 million inhabitants, the largest single market in the world – faced with the protectionism of the directors of Trump, whose slogan is “America First”.
The president of the european Council, Donald Tusk, and the head of the Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, will participate Monday in Beijing at the 20th EU-China summit and will hold talks with the president Xi Jinping to the day when Donald Trump will meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.
The summit should be the opportunity for the leaders of China and the EU to reaffirm their common commitment in favour of a modernisation of the world trade Organization (WTO), in which the american president was opposed to.
But the EU and China must iron out differences on the restrictive business practices of Beijing, including the “dumping” of cheap chinese imports, in particular steel.
Some of these concerns are shared by Washington.
The EU complained to the WTO against the decision of the USA to impose tariffs on exports of steel and aluminum, and against China, to oppose “the transfer unfair of technology” european companies active in China.
“If the actors of this world do not respect the rules, then the system risk of collapse”, had explained the european Commission to justify its complaints.
– Strong Signal –
Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker will be next Tuesday in Tokyo for the signing of a free trade agreement with Japan. The meeting was originally scheduled last week in Brussels, but the japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe has been forced to cancel his trip due to deadly floods in Japan.
The agreement with Japan is “historical” and is “the most important ever negotiated by the european Union,” argued the spokesman of the european Commission Margaritis Schinas.
“This agreement will create a free trade area covering almost a third of global GDP”, he explained.
In Tokyo, the discussion will also focus on the presentation of a united front against the United States on the subject of tariffs, the japanese government has described as”extremely deplorable”.
The agreement EU-Japan has recently been hailed as a “strong signal” against u.s. protectionism by the european trade commissioner, Cecilia Malmstrom, who will travel in Asia.
– Up rumors –
Jean-Claude Juncker has kept his travel in China and Japan to quell concerns and rumors about his health, after he was filmed stumbling around and supported by several leaders during a reception Wednesday evening on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Brussels.
The president of the european Commission has suffered from a back pain caused by sciatica, explained the spokesperson. Jean-Claude Juncker has left the receipt sitting on a wheelchair.
Doubts have been raised about his physical ability to endure long and tiring trips in the air and questions were asked about his ability to preside over the european Commission until the end of his mandate in 2019.
The German government has full confidence in him, assured Friday, Steffen Siebert, a spokesman for chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Luxembourg, 63 years old, has publicly said many times suffer from the aftermath of a road accident, because of a bad back chronic.
After his journey in China and Japan, Jean-Claude Juncker needs to go to the United States to negotiate with Donald Trump for an end of the trade war between the EU and the United States.
The american president was attending the reception in Brussels and has crossed Jean-Claude Juncker supported by the First ministers of the netherlands Mark Rutte and Portuguese Antonio Costa. But he has not shown any compassion for him.
