Source: Global Times

[Global Times reporter Ding Yazhi] On the 21st local time, the United States and the European Union issued a joint statement announcing that both sides had reached an agreement on a trade framework. The Hong Kong South China Morning Post said that the details of the agreement show that the EU is further aligning with the US in technology, security, and business areas, which may bring "new rifts" to Sino-EU relations.

According to ABC News, before the agreement was reached, the EU faced the threat of up to 30% US tariffs. According to the latest agreement, the US, as one of the EU's main trading partners, will impose tariffs of no more than 15% on EU products, covering automobiles, pharmaceuticals, semiconductor chips, and timber. The EU will cancel a large number of tariffs on the US, and commit to purchasing US products worth billions of dollars.

The White House released an agreement framework covering 19 items, involving multiple areas such as agricultural products, automobiles, aircraft, semiconductors, energy, environmental regulations, cybersecurity, and digital trade barriers. The EU will provide preferential market access for US agricultural products and eliminate all tariffs on US industrial goods.

Notably, although the US-EU joint statement did not directly mention China, several expressions are considered "clearly directed." The statement said that the EU plans to purchase at least $4 billion in US artificial intelligence chips and maintain consistency with the US on technical security standards to jointly prevent technology from flowing to "relevant destinations." The South China Morning Post believes that this expression mainly targets China.

Juraj Sefcovic, the EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security, said that the EU hopes to ensure that these chips "remain in Europe, serving the European economy, and will not be transferred elsewhere." He emphasized that this conforms to the "standard process" of controlling sensitive technologies and stated that the EU is willing to cooperate with the US to ensure that sensitive technologies "do not fall into the wrong hands."

The report also said that the statement shows that the US and the EU are restarting previously suspended economic security cooperation, including mutual investment reviews and export controls, aiming to restrict China's access to cutting-edge technologies. In addition, the EU has also committed to purchasing large-scale US energy products, including liquefied natural gas, oil, and nuclear energy, with expected purchases reaching $750 billion by 2028. At the same time, European companies will add $600 billion in investments in strategic areas in the US and plan to increase military and defense equipment procurement.

The South China Morning Post believes that after President Trump took office, transatlantic relations once became tense, and there was reflection within Europe on whether to "de-risk" from the US. However, the current agreement shows that the EU ultimately chose to deepen cooperation with the US. The report analyzed that if the agreement is implemented, it may make Europe dependent on US technology and military for many years to come.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7541544687522366006/

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