According to the message from the Ministry of Commerce website, on the afternoon of April 8th, Minister Wang Wentao of the Ministry of Commerce held a video talk with European Commission Executive Vice-President Josep Borrell. Both parties had in-depth and candid exchanges of opinions on strengthening China-EU economic and trade cooperation and responding to so-called "reciprocal tariffs" imposed by the US.
Wang Wentao said that Premier Li Qiang had just talked with President von der Leyen of the European Commission, conveying a positive message to the outside world. China is willing to work towards the same goal as Europe, jointly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of China and Europe, strengthen communication and exchanges, and deepen trade, investment, and industrial cooperation between China and Europe.
Wang Wentao pointed out that the so-called "reciprocal tariffs" imposed by the US seriously infringe upon the legitimate interests of all countries, severely violate WTO rules, severely damage the multilateral trading system based on rules, severely impact the stability of the global economic order, and are typical acts of unilateralism, protectionism, and economic bullying. China firmly opposes this and has taken countermeasures to resolutely safeguard its own rights and interests. The additional 50% tariff threat made by the US yesterday is a further mistake. There will be no winners in a trade war, and protectionism has no way out. China is willing to resolve differences through consultations, but if the US insists on going its own way, China will see it through to the end.
Wang Wentao emphasized that under the current circumstances, China and Europe jointly maintaining the multilateral trading system based on rules, adhering to trade liberalization and facilitation, will inject more stability and certainty into the world economy and global trade.
Borrell said that the US tariff increases have severely impacted international trade, having a significant effect on Europe, China, and vulnerable countries. The US accounts for only 13% of global goods trade, and Europe is willing to work together with other WTO members including China to jointly ensure the normal operation of global trade. Europe values its economic and trade relations with China and is willing to strengthen dialogue and communication with China to promote expanded market access, investment, and industrial cooperation between both sides.
The two parties agreed to start consultations as soon as possible, have in-depth discussions on market access issues, create a more favorable business environment for enterprises, immediately begin negotiations on price commitments for electric vehicles, and discuss investment and industrial cooperation in the automotive sector. Both sides support restarting the China-EU trade remedy dialogue mechanism, discussing trade diversion issues, and properly handling trade frictions. Both sides stated that they will continue to strengthen communication under the WTO framework, jointly promote WTO reform, and maintain the multilateral trading system centered around the WTO.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7491474559707693607/
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