Trump’s trade war only benefits China, EU foreign policy chief says

The European Union's foreign policy chief says tariffs between Western countries only serve China's interests and is calling for higher defence spending to keep Russia in check.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief says tariffs between Western countries only serve China’s interests and is calling for higher defence spending to keep Russia in check.

“If the United States is having a trade war with Canada, Mexico or the European Union, then who is really benefiting from this is China,” Kaja Kallas said in an interview Thursday with The Canadian Press.

Kallas, the former prime minister of Estonia, is overseeing the EU’s approach to an alarming new geopolitical climate — one where the U.S. hints at scaling back its commitment to defending NATO allies and pursues a trade war against Europe and Canada.

“We are trying to keep a cool head,” Kallas said.

“We are also ready to really defend our interests — but it would be our wish that we didn’t have to deal with this, because we have so many other problems.”

Those problems include the first large-scale land war in Europe in decades, budget crunches that have governments across the continent struggling to balance their books, and a spike in severe weather events caused by climate change.

Those threats have led Europe to look to Canada for help in shoring up supply chains for everything from food to energy — areas covered under a free-trade deal that has been in effect since 2017.

“We definitely need to deepen our co-operation in those areas, especially in terms of economic security,” Kallas said.