‘Donald Is Right’: EU Chief Agrees With Trump on China Trade Concerns

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Jun 18, 2025 - 10:10 Updated: Jun 17, 2025 - 23:08
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‘Donald Is Right’: EU Chief Agrees With Trump on China Trade Concerns
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that U.S. President Donald Trump is right about broken trade rules and warned that China’s behavior has distorted world markets.

During a June 16 session on the global economy at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Canada, von der Leyen said that Beijing is not willing “to live within the constraints of the rules based international system.”

“Because we agree: the current global trading system is not working as it should. Guardrails are clearly missing. On this point, Donald is right, there is a serious problem,” von der Leyen said. “But we strongly feel that the biggest challenges are not the trade between G7 partners.”

She said the source of the “biggest collective problem” has its origins in China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001.

“China still defines itself as a developing country. This cannot be. ... While other[s] opened their market China focused [on] undercutting intellectual property protections, massive subsidies with the aim to dominate global manufacturing and supply chains. This is not market competition – it is distortion with intent. And it undermines our manufacturing sectors,” she said.

Von der Leyen said that the G7 economies account for 45 percent of global GDP and more than 80 percent of intellectual property revenues.

“That is leverage, if we use it together,” she said.

The EU leader is hoping to negotiate with Trump on a 50 percent tariff on EU goods, which could kick in on July 9. Brussels already faces 25 percent levies on steel, aluminum, and cars, as well as reciprocal tariffs of 10 percent on almost all other goods. The 27-member state bloc also faces a deepening trade rift with China.
In September 2023, von der Leyen cautioned that the global market is “flooded with cheaper electric vehicles” and that the prices are kept “artificially low by huge state subsidies.”

In October 2024, member states of the EU voted in favor of imposing significant tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs).

In April, the EU and China agreed to explore minimum pricing of Chinese-made EVs in place of tariffs.

The EU recently considered backing a proposal to limit Chinese medical device suppliers’ participation in public contract bids after finding that companies from member states were not given fair access to China’s public tenders.
After a months-long investigation, the EU said in January it found “clear evidence” that the Chinese communist regime limited the access of European medical device producers to its government contracts “in an unfair and discriminatory way.”

In a report released on Jan. 14, the commission outlined its investigators’ findings, revealing that the Chinese regime has implemented a multilayered system of legal measures and policies that favor domestic medical device manufacturers over foreign competitors.

The EU’s investigators found that Beijing also established a procurement system that incentivizes companies to win tenders by offering prices that are often unsustainable for profit-driven foreign firms.

China’s state support for local medical manufacturers enables it to offer even lower bids, according to the report.

The EU and China are also engaged in several ongoing disputes at the WTO.

In April, a WTO panel rejected the EU’s 2022 claims that China had violated the global watchdog’s rules on intellectual property.

The EU said that Chinese courts were preventing European companies from protecting their telecom technology patents, including for 3G, 4G, and 5G mobile technology.

The EU said that it will appeal the result.
According to the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China Business Confidence Survey for 2025, published on May 28, European business confidence is at a historic low.
“Uncertainty resulting from escalating trade and geopolitical tensions, concerns about China’s domestic economy and persistent producer price deflation weigh on the minds of both European and Chinese companies,” Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, said of the survey results.
Guy Birchall and Reuters contributed to this report. 
 
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