As preparations fall into place for the first in-person summit in four years between EU officials and their Chinese counterparts, hopes for constructive partnership have been displaced by mutual suspicion. Yet in hardening its stance toward Beijing, Brussels is ignoring weaknesses within China that could also generate risks.
Trade
Flaws in last year’s groundbreaking Inflation Reduction Act, designed to speed the U.S. energy transition, could end up slowing the adoption of electric vehicles. The IRA’s tax incentives for EVs exclude major potential suppliers of critical minerals, including Argentina, where the lithium sector is growing explosively.
For Washington and Brussels, the IMEC trade corridor linking India, the Gulf and Europe is an effort to mold the resulting partnerships in line with Western interests. However, for India, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, their participation in the project does not reflect a desire to choose sides amid an era of great power competition.