The European Commission declined to comment directly on an apparent easing of trade tensions between the US and China on Thursday, despite Beijing’s announcement that it would suspend the imposition of rare earth restrictions that have alarmed EU industry leaders.
Olof Gill, deputy chief Commission spokesperson, said that the EU executive would not offer an opinion on the outcome of US President Donald Trump’s historic meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but would comment after technical talks are held between EU and Chinese officials in Brussels on Friday.
“We don’t comment on trade negotiations between third countries, but, of course, in principle, we welcome any development that removes barriers to global trade flows,” Gill said.
He added that the Commission, which oversees EU trade policy, remains “fully focused on its own bilateral trade engagement” with the world’s second-largest economy, which is also the EU’s second-largest trade partner after the US.
“The European Union will comment on our engagement with China after we engage with China, which… takes place tomorrow,” Gill said.
The remarks come after Trump and Xi met for the first time in six years in South Korea on Thursday, after which both sides announced climb downs in a trade war that has rattled financial markets and upended the global rules-based trading system.
Trump – who described his meeting with Xi as a “twelve out of ten” – said Washington would cut some levies on China in exchange for Beijing resuming purchases of American soybeans and suspending swinging export controls on rare earths announced earlier this month.
China dominates the global supply of rare earths, which are used to produce a wide range of civilian and military technologies, including electric vehicles, wind turbines, radars, and fighter planes.
Xi was similarly effusive in his praise of the meeting.
“China and the United States can jointly shoulder our responsibility as major countries, and work together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of our two countries and the whole world,” he said, according to Chinese state media outlet Xinhua.
Confirming Trump’s remarks, the Chinese Commerce Ministry announced on Thursday that it would “suspend” for one year the export restrictions on rare earths announced on 9 October, adding that it would “study and refine specific plans.”
However, the ministry did not announce the suspension of the previous, less stringent rare earth controls announced in April.
These restrictions, which have already forced some EU firms to shutter production, were imposed just two days after Trump’s announcement of punishing “reciprocal tariffs” on US trading partners on 2 April. They have also caused Brussels to look to Japan to help improve the continent’s economic security.
Beijing’s April controls on trade will be among the key topics discussed by EU and Chinese officials when they meet on Friday.
European financial markets remained subdued on Thursday. The STOXX 600, a broad measure of European equities, was down 0.4% as of 1 pm CEST. The euro was also broadly stable against the dollar, at $1.16.
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