KANANASKIS, Alberta — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday tried to find common ground with Donald Trump by criticizing China’s export restrictions on raw materials used for cars, batteries and wind turbines.
During a session on the global economy at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Canada, von der Leyen slammed Beijing for disrupting global trade by deploying subsidies to boost its own companies, according to an EU readout of the event. The chief of the EU executive accused China of “weaponizing” its leading position in producing and refining critical raw materials, and of ignoring global trade rules to undercut competitors.
Since April, Beijing has significantly restricted exports of permanent magnets and the minerals needed to make them. While that move came in response to Trump’s tariffs on China, Beijing has applied the restrictions globally, hurting Europe too.
“When we focus our attention on tariffs between partners, it diverts our energy from the real challenge — one that threatens us all,” von der Leyen said in a pointed comment aimed squarely at Trump, who sat near her at the G7 roundtable.
“On this point, Donald is right — there is a serious problem,” von der Leyen added, encouraging the U.S. president to join forces with his allies to address China’s trade imbalances, rather than impose tariffs on his allies.
Brussels has tried for months to convince Trump not to target the EU in his trade war, arguing that cooperation on China’s industrial policy is the best way to secure an even trade playing field and attempting to flatter and cajole the American president into withdrawing his punishing levies.
China has focused on “undercutting intellectual property protections, massive subsidies with the aim to dominate global manufacturing and supply chains. This is not market competition — it is distortion with intent,” von der Leyen said.
The Commission chief warned against what she called “a new China shock,” accusing Beijing of flooding global markets with cheap state-subsidized products, and urged G7 countries to tackle its dominance in the raw materials sector.
Von der Leyen brought a prop to the meeting: a permanent magnet, which is crucial to Europe’s central industries, such as car and wind turbine production.
But while von der Leyen directly slammed China in her comments, the G7 as a whole may not be so bold.
In a draft statement to be released from the summit, which POLITICO has seen, the G7 leaders will pledge to implement a “G7 critical minerals action plan.” But the draft doesn’t name-check China, instead obliquely mentioning “non-market policies and practices in the critical minerals sector.”
In the days before the summit, the expectation was that the critical raw materials statement would be the easiest to agree among the leaders gathering in Canada, along with partner nations like South Africa, Ukraine, Brazil and India.
Von der Leyen also met with Trump separately and said the two sides would “accelerate their work” on getting “a good and fair” trade deal.
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