EU-China truce under strain as both sides brace for potential trade war

Weeks after the European Union and China struck a deal aimed at averting a looming trade war, the two sides remain at loggerheads over what is wrong with their relationship, how to fix it and who is to blame.

At an event in Brussels this week, threats were exchanged and differences rose to the surface. With the ink barely dry on their fragile trade peace, the dynamic made clear that both are still preparing for a trade war.

“If the EU insists on adopting restrictive and discriminatory measures against China, China will have to take countermeasures to firmly safeguard its interests,” Beijing’s ambassador to the EU, Cai Run, warned on Thursday.

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Speaking at the same event – which was sponsored by China’s mission to the EU – Stefano Grassi, a senior official who helps coordinate the European Commission’s China policy, returned criticism of his own.