EU–US–China Trade Relations

The European Union (EU) has long been a central actor in global trade governance, leveraging its market size, regulatory capacity, and supranational institutions to jointly shape international trade rules with the United States (US). This chapter examines how two major disruptions – the China import shock and the protectionist turn of the second Trump administration – have fundamentally altered the political and strategic environment in which EU trade policy operates. It traces the evolution of the EU’s trade policy framework, the shifting constellation of domestic and transnational actors influencing policy choices, and the EU’s historical role as a joint shaper of multilateral trade rules. Against the backdrop of increasing politicization, rising economic nationalism and the breakdown of multilateralism, the chapter assesses the EU’s constrained bargaining position between the United States and China. It concludes by outlining strategic options for the EU, including options for credible retaliation, diversification of export markets and the full deployment of its emerging geoeconomic policy toolkit. Keywords: China; EU trade policy; geoeconomics; US protectionism; multilateral trade governance; strategic autonomy