On June 7, China and Europe made key progress over the three major trade disputes between electric vehicles, brandy anti-dumping and rare earth export controls. The next day, the Chinese delegation will set off to visit the UK and will hold the first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism with the US. Behind the delicate timeline, a game spanning the Eurasian continent and the Atlantic Ocean is undercurrent. "The EU proposed that new technological paths can be explored at the same time" - On June 7, this sentence by a spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce became the fulcrum for leveraging the deadlock between China and Europe. Since the EU launched a counter-subsidy investigation against China Electric Vehicles in 2024, both sides have been tense: the EU accused Chinese automakers of enjoying unfair subsidies and threatened to impose tariffs of up to 39%.
China has launched an anti-dumping investigation into EU brandy to accurately counter France's core industries. This tug-of-war ushered in a turning point in June 2025: the price commitment consultations between the two sides entered the final stage of the electric vehicle case, and the EU took the initiative to relax and proposed "technical path alternatives", trying to bypass the traditional tariff confrontation model and give China what it wants - a fair competition environment for Chinese auto companies in the European market. Meanwhile, the French Cognac industry has made breakthroughs in price commitment applications submitted by the French Cognac industry. China plans to issue a final sanction announcement before July 5. If the terms are implemented, French companies can avoid anti-dumping duties up to 39% through independent pricing.
In the rare earth field, although China insists that export controls comply with international rules, it promises to open a "green channel" for qualified EU companies, and the approval efficiency will be greatly improved. These three progress was called "the European compromise that China exchanged for precise countermeasures." The European turn is by no means accidental. Since April 2025, the "reciprocal tariff" rate imposed by the United States on China has soared to 145%, and China has simultaneously countered, and global supply chains are under pressure. The EU is sandwiched between China and the United States, worrying about becoming a victim of the "tariff war" and facing internal economic pressure - the German automobile industry calls for avoiding decoupling from China, French agricultural groups protesting that brandy exports are blocked, and high-tech companies are in a state of sluggish supply of rare earths.
Deeper strategic considerations emerge: After China and the United States reached a consensus on "tariffs" in Geneva, the EU realized that if it continues to be tough on China, it may miss the right to reshape global trade rules. Experts from the China Institute of Modern International Relations pointed out: "The EU is trying to innovate through technological paths to not only protect the face of the 'market economy guardian', but also avoid substantial damage to the interests of the industry." Behind this "elastic game" is Europe's betting on the multipole trading system - neither completely revolving towards the United States nor completely relying on China.
On June 8, the Chinese delegation flew to London and started the first Sino-US economic and trade consultations after the "Geneva Joint Statement". The U.S. negotiator table has two major problems: how to deal with China's countermeasures in the rare earths field, and how to explain the 10% "strategic industry tariffs" that are still retained. The agreement just reached by China and Europe has invisibly enhanced China's bargaining chips - if the United States continues to implement export controls in semiconductors and other fields, China can use the EU's "technical path" experience to open up a new front.
IMF's evaluation of this round of progress in China and Europe is quite meaningful: "The stabilizer of the global economy is starting to operate." Data analysis shows that if China, the United States and Europe reach a tariff compromise, the global GDP growth rate is expected to rebound by 0.5 percentage points in 2025. But for Washington, the greater pressure comes from the industry: Tesla, General Motors and other companies have jointly written to the White House, demanding that they learn from the EU plan to resolve the electric vehicle dispute. This game spans three major economies is rewriting the post-Cold War trade logic.
When China and the United States use "cancel suspension" to break the tariff spiral in Geneva, and when the EU uses "technical paths" to replace traditional confrontation, the world witnesses not only changes in specific terms, but also the reallocation of rule-making power. The statement of the Ministry of Commerce of China's "going towards each other" is similar to the footnote of this era - there is no eternal enemy, only a dynamic balance of interests. The script of global trade has shifted from "unipolar hegemony" to "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and every participant is learning how to make a move on the new chessboard.
