China and the European Union conducted discussions to strengthen their economic and trade collaboration because of recent American punitive trade measures according to a Thursday Chinese Commerce Ministry statement.

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Tuesday saw Commerce Minister Wang Wentao from China join forces with Maros Sefcovic from the EU trade and economic security commission to substantiate bilateral cooperation approaches via video communication. The main priority addressed within this meeting included both the restart of negotiations for trade relief actions along with immediate talks about electric vehicle (EV) pricing commitments.

A dialogue occurred between the representatives just as U.S. President Donald Trump initiated his additional trade measures against Chinese exports. Donald Trump announced temporary tariff reductions worldwide yet upped the pressure on China through his threat to raise the tariffs on their economy up to 125%.

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During their meeting Commissioner Sefcovic received a message from China's Minister of Commerce Wang about their commitment to deepen trade and investment as well as industrial partnership with the EU. The official demanded both trading blocs to maintain the rules-based approach to international trading while embracing trade liberalization and facilitation standards since this approach would bring stability to the global economy and worldwide commerce.

The discussion between China and the EU covered enterprise-friendly market conditions while resolving transfer problems in trade operations. The participating parties maintained their commitment to maintain communication through the World Trade Organization while pushing for required reforms to the organization.

Before these changes the EU implemented extra import tariffs reaching up to 35.3% on Chinese electric vehicle imports when conducting an anti-subsidy review on top of their usual 10% car import levies. Last week, the Chinese commerce ministry indicated that both sides had agreed to restart negotiations on minimum price commitments for Chinese EVs, although a specific timeline for the resumption of these talks was not provided.