Breaking News
Investing Pro 0
Free Webinar - Webinar: Simplify Options Trading | Thursday, September 28, 2023 | 08:00PM EDT Enroll Now

US, EU agree firm stance on China at trade, tech meeting

Published May 31, 2023 12:27PM ET Updated May 31, 2023 12:33PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This article has already been saved in your Saved Items
 
3/3 © Reuters. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken gestures next to European Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager during an event in connection with Trade and Technology Council (TTC), in Lulea, Sweden May 31, 2023. TT News Agency/Jonas Ekstromer via REUTERS 2/3

By Philip Blenkinsop

LULEA, Sweden (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union pledged on Wednesday to join forces to counter China's non-market economic practices and disinformation, particularly over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The two partners sought at their Trade and Technology Council in Sweden to find common interests, such as over artificial intelligence and future trade in environmentally-friendly goods, but China proved a pervasive topic.

They said in a joint statement at the end of a fourth ministerial TTC meeting that they were ready to address non-market practices together and multilaterally.

They highlighted China's policies in the medical devices sector and their adverse effect on EU and U.S. workers, saying they were "exploring possible coordinated actions". China faces criticism that it has closed its medical devices market to non-Chinese producers and discriminates against foreign producers in public tenders.

The statement said the EU and the United States were deeply concerned about foreign information manipulation, interference and disinformation.

It said Russian information surrounding its invasion of Ukraine and China's "amplification of Russian disinformation narratives" were stark examples of the dangers.

Brussels says it considers China a partner in some fields, an economic competitor and a strategic rival. The European Union plans to recalibrate its China policy, recognising coordination with a more hawkish United States is essential.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the EU's and the United States' views of China had increasingly converged, noting neither was looking for confrontation.

"None of us are looking for decoupling. On the contrary, we all benefit from trade and investment with China. But as opposed to decoupling, we are focused on de-risking and you've heard the same language coming from leaders on both sides of the Atlantic," he told a press conference.

The two sides said they would look into action to reinforce civil society and fact-checking organisations in third countries, notably in Africa and Latin America, where they said the negative impact of disinformation could be seen.

They also said they were committed to working with the G7 to coordinate action to counteract acts of economic coercion, which would include trade restrictions the EU says China has imposed on EU member Lithuania.

US, EU agree firm stance on China at trade, tech meeting
 

Related Articles

Add a Comment

Comment Guidelines

We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:  

  •            Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.

  •           Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed. 

  •           Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.

  • Use standard writing style. Include punctuation and upper and lower cases. Comments that are written in all caps and contain excessive use of symbols will be removed.
  • NOTE: Spam and/or promotional messages and comments containing links will be removed. Phone numbers, email addresses, links to personal or business websites, Skype/Telegram/WhatsApp etc. addresses (including links to groups) will also be removed; self-promotional material or business-related solicitations or PR (ie, contact me for signals/advice etc.), and/or any other comment that contains personal contact specifcs or advertising will be removed as well. In addition, any of the above-mentioned violations may result in suspension of your account.
  • Doxxing. We do not allow any sharing of private or personal contact or other information about any individual or organization. This will result in immediate suspension of the commentor and his or her account.
  • Don’t monopolize the conversation. We appreciate passion and conviction, but we also strongly believe in giving everyone a chance to air their point of view. Therefore, in addition to civil interaction, we expect commenters to offer their opinions succinctly and thoughtfully, but not so repeatedly that others are annoyed or offended. If we receive complaints about individuals who take over a thread or forum, we reserve the right to ban them from the site, without recourse.
  • Only English comments will be allowed.
  • Any comment you publish, together with your investing.com profile, will be public on investing.com and may be indexed and available through third party search engines, such as Google.

Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.

Write your thoughts here
 
Are you sure you want to delete this chart?
 
Post
Post also to:
 
Replace the attached chart with a new chart ?
1000
Your ability to comment is currently suspended due to negative user reports. Your status will be reviewed by our moderators.
Please wait a minute before you try to comment again.
Thanks for your comment. Please note that all comments are pending until approved by our moderators. It may therefore take some time before it appears on our website.
 
Are you sure you want to delete this chart?
 
Post
 
Replace the attached chart with a new chart ?
1000
Your ability to comment is currently suspended due to negative user reports. Your status will be reviewed by our moderators.
Please wait a minute before you try to comment again.
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block

Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?

By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.

%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List

Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.

Report this comment

I feel that this comment is:

Comment flagged

Thank You!

Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Continue with Google
or
Sign up with Email