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European Union leaders travel to Beijing and Tokyo on Monday and Tuesday to strengthen trade relations with the two countries to block if US President Donald Trump unleashes a global trade war.
The Asian Tour Representatives of the European Union are part of an alliance of alliances forged by the EU – 28 countries, 500 million inhabitants, the largest single market in the world – against the protectionism of the Trump administration whose slogan is " América First "
European Council President Donald Tusk and Commission Chief Jean-Claude Juncker will attend the 20th EU-China Summit in Beijing on Monday. will hold talks with President Xi Jinping on the day Donald Trump meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.
Summit should be an opportunity for leaders of China and the EU to reaffirm their shared commitment n in favor of a modernization of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to which the US president objects.
But the EU and China will have to iron out differences on restrictive trade practices in Beijing, including the " dumping " of cheap Chinese imports, particularly steel
Some of these concerns are shared by Washington
The EU has lodged a complaint with the WTO against US decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum exports and against China to oppose " unjust technology transfer " of European companies operating in China. [19659002] " If the actors of this world do not respect the rules, then the system risks collapse ", explained the European Commission to justify its complaints.
Strong signal
Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker will then go on Tuesday in Tokyo for the signing of a free trade agreement with Japan. The meeting was initially scheduled last week in Brussels, but the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was forced to cancel his trip because of deadly floods in Japan.
The agreement with Japan is " history "and constitutes" the most important ever negotiated by the European Union ", said the spokesperson of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas.
" This agreement will create an area free trade covering nearly a third of world GDP ", he said.
In Tokyo, discussions will also focus on the presentation of a united front against the United States about of their tariffs, the Japanese government having described them as " extremely deplorable ".
The EU-Japan agreement was recently hailed as a " strong signal " against American protectionism by the European commissioner like Cecilia Malmstrom, who will be traveling in Asia.
Silencing rumors
Jean-Claude Juncker has maintained his trip to China and Japan to silence concerns and rumors about his state of health, after being filmed staggered and supported by several leaders at a reception Wednesday evening on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Brussels
The President of the European Commission suffered a back pain caused by sciatica, explained his spokesperson. Jean-Claude Juncker left the reception sitting on a wheelchair.
Doubts were expressed about his physical capacity to endure long and tiring airplane journeys and questions were raised about his ability to chair the European Commission. at the end of his term in 2019.
The German government has every confidence in him, said Friday Steffen Siebert, the spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The 63-year-old Luxembourger publicly repeatedly said to suffer the after-effects of a road accident, causing chronic back pain.
After his trip to China and Japan, Jean-Claude Juncker has to travel to the United States to negotiate with Donald Trump an end of the trade war between the EU and the US
The US President attended the reception in Brussels and met Jean-Claude Juncker supported by Dutch Prime Ministers Mark Rutte and rtugais Antonio Costa. But he did not show any compbadion for him.
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