The European Commission president warned Chinese leader Xi Jinping that ties between the European Union and China were at an “inflection point.”
Tensions rose ahead of high-stakes trade talks in Beijing after the EU imposed sanctions on Chinese banks it accused of violating a Russia trade embargo.
Ursula von der Leyen’s warning to Xi came as the Chinese president said that European moves to decouple supply chains would “only lead to self-isolation.” Both sides face tariffs from Washington, but “don’t expect adversity to draw them closer together,” The Economist wrote. Meanwhile Bloomberg reported that the EU was making progress toward a deal that would set a 15% tariff for most exports to the US.
