Camille Gijs, Barbara Moens and Giovanna Coi
BRUSSELS — Forget about Donald Trump’s tariffs against the EU. What terrifies Brussels are the tariffs he is threatening against China.
The U.S. president-elect campaigned on a pledge to impose tariffs of 10 to 20 percent on all imports — and singled out China for punitive rates of 60 percent. He warned of a further 10 percent last week if Beijing fails to stanch the flow of fentanyl into the United States. And days later he upped the ante against China and its BRICS allies by brandishing a 100 percent tariff if they abandon the U.S. dollar.
Although those punches have, for now, been aimed squarely at Beijing, Brussels is coming to realize that it may need to get on board with Trump’s looming trade war against China. The fear is that a flood of Chinese exports would be pushed to Europe by an insurmountable U.S. tariff wall.
“The number one issue is not NATO, not even Ukraine, as serious as that is. The number one issue is the displacement of Chinese exports that are going to the U.S. and will now go to Europe,” said Anthony Gardner, who served as U.S. ambassador to the European Union just before Trump’s first mandate.
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