Department of Research, Studies and International News 22-01-2025

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared on Tuesday that Europe was ready to negotiate with United States President Donald Trump, but the European Union will also seek to improve ties with China and other nations as global competition heats up.

Von der Leyen insisted that the US remains an important partner, taking a conciliatory tone in a speech to the annual meeting of global elites in Davos, eastern Switzerland.

The EU’s “first priority will be to engage early, discuss common interests, and be ready to negotiate” with Trump, she said.

“We will be pragmatic, but we will always stand by our principles. To protect our interests and uphold our values,” she added.

Trump returned to the White House on Monday, bringing with him fears he would deliver on promises to slap heavy tariffs on China and US allies, including Canada and the European Union.

After his inauguration, Trump said he may impose 25-percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico as early as Feb. 1.

He also announced the US’ withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, which the EU chief defended as the “best hope for all humanity” and vowed that “Europe will stay the course.”

Von der Leyen reiterated her commitment to free trade during her speech, pointing to recent deals with Switzerland, the Latin American bloc Mercosur and Mexico.

She also said she and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to “upgrade” their partnership.

She stressed that Europe “must engage constructively with China, to find solutions in our mutual interest” despite escalating trade tensions between the two.

“2025 marks 50 years of our Union’s diplomatic relations with China. I see it as an opportunity to engage and deepen our relationship with China, and where possible, even to expand our trade and investment ties,” von der Leyen said.

China, Ukraine

China is taking a cautious approach to Trump.

After Chinese President Xi Jinping’s conversation with Trump by phone last Friday, he said he hoped for a “good start” to relations with the new administration.

Although Trump said he would undertake sweeping trade penalties against China, he has also indicated he wanted to improve ties, and even stepped in to reverse a US ban of Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok on national security grounds.

Ukraine is also keeping a very close eye on what Trump’s second mandate would involve.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was expected to call on world leaders and company executives to maintain, and even ramp-up, their support for his country’s fight against Russia.

He said on Monday he was hopeful Trump would help achieve a “just peace.”

European ‘struggle’

Europeans are fretting the most about Trump’s return while other countries — from Brazil and China to India and Turkey — believe he would be good for their countries and global peace, according to a survey last week from the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).

The report accompanying the survey of over 28,500 people across 24 countries serves as a warning for European leaders to act cautiously.

“Europeans will struggle to find internal unity or global power in leading an outright resistance to the new administration,” the ECFR report’s authors said.

Despite suggestions, Trump’s return would overshadow the forum that began on the same day as his inauguration in Washington, D.C. WEF President Borge Brende said the president had brought fresh interest to the gathering.

“It has increased the interest in Davos because people feel they need to come together to better understand what’s on its way,” Brende told Agence France-Presse (AFP) in an interview.