Posted originally on CTH on April 8, 2025 | Sundance

After previously saying her number one concern about President Trump’s tariff program was Beijing dumping all their excess products into the EU at a discount, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announces she is coordinating the tariff response with China.

Apparently, the EU recognizes the ideological alignment of support from Canada just isn’t going to be enough to pressure President Trump and retain leverage into the U.S. market.  This is quite a remarkable admission from von der Leyen all things considered.  [STATEMENT]

President von der Leyen held today a phone call with Premier Li Qiang to discuss the state of EU-China relations, as 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

The two leaders held a constructive discussion during which they took stock of bilateral and global issues.

The President underscored the vital importance of stability and predictability for the global economy. In response to the widespread disruption caused by the US tariffs, President von der Leyen stressed the responsibility of Europe and China, as two of world’s largest markets, to support a strong reformed trading system, free, fair and founded on a level playing field.

The President called for a negotiated resolution to the current situation, emphasising the need to avoid further escalation.

President von der Leyen emphasised China’s critical role in addressing possible trade diversion caused by tariffs, especially in sectors already affected by global overcapacity. The leaders discussed setting up a mechanism for tracking possible trade diversion and ensuring any developments are duly addressed. (more)

In the 2017 – 2019 version of the same dynamic, the EU was slow to realize the Trump impact to the Chinese economy would lead to less industrial purchases from Beijing.  This dynamic pushed the EU toward recession. In 2025 von der Leyen is trying to proactively mitigate that outcome.

This coordination of response between Brussels and Beijing is happening simultaneous to the Chinese central bank beginning a rapid devaluation of their currency.  Direct subsidies and currency manipulation are the first two approaches taken by any economy dependent on access to the U.S. market.

The difference this time is the scale of the tariffs President Trump is delivering.  There’s no way to subsidize and lower currency value at a rate significant enough to mitigate a near 50% tariff impact across all sectors.  China and the EU will subsidize and devalue, but they cannot repeat their prior defensive programs to this scale.

The key takeaway from this public admission by the EU President is to note how consequential the tariffs are to their parasitic endeavors.

The EU is directly working with Beijing against American interests.

Let that alignment settle in for a few moments.