The EU’s economic relations with China are now more important than those with the United States

In 2019, all EU Member States exported € 384 billion worth of goods to the US and € 198 billion to China. In 2020, EU Member States’ exports of goods to the United States fell to € 353 billion and to China to € 203 billion. There were also significant changes in the total imports of the EU Member States. In 2019, all EU countries imported goods worth 233 billion euros from the USA, while imports of goods from China amounted to 363 billion euros. In 2020, EU imports from the US fell to € 202 billion, while imports from China rose to € 384 billion.

There are two main reasons for this shift in the external trade priorities of the EU Member States. First of all, the trade conflicts carried out by former US President Donald Trump, the protectionism of the US digital giants and the gross imposition of American interests in the large EU Member States have already led to a general decline in economic interests. If French producers of industrial and agricultural products (including even wine and cheese) find it difficult to enter the US market, then other geographical areas must be sought. Barriers created by the US for European companies are already reflected in the declining economic importance of the US in the EU economy.

2020 statistics are already calculated without the UK. However, as you know, the British economy is much more closely linked to the US than to the EU. However, even adding UK data to the EU’s total external trade figures would not change the result significantly.

According to the compilation of the British National Statistical Office, the British foreign trade turnover with the USA in 2019 was 119 billion euros. In 2020, it fell to € 99 billion (mainly due to a significant decline in UK exports to the US). In turn, the foreign trade turnover of Great Britain and China in both 2019 and 2020 was in the range of 76-77 billion euros. Britain’s economic relations with the US still outweigh economic relations with China, but even adding Britain’s foreign trade turnover to the creators of all EU member states, in 2020 the Chinese role for the EU + Great Britain combination exceeded the US economic importance.

The EU’s total foreign trade turnover with China is already higher than the EU’s external trade turnover with the US, which means that the agreement reached between the EU and China on 30 December 2020 to conclude a comprehensive investment agreement is based on common economic interests.