The news
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy is expected to visit China next week, signaling a shift towards less confrontational ties with the world’s second-largest economy. The diplomatic mission comes at a time when the European Union remains at a standoff with Beijing over electric vehicle tariffs.
Britain’s new Labor government has described the recalibration of relations with China as a “groundbreaking challenge”, and expressed willingness to resume talks on Beijing-backed investments to boost the ailing British economy, even as it remains crucial to China’s human rights record.
Lammy’s visit comes even as “significant disagreementson trade between China and the European Union. In response to the EU’s recent decision to impose tariffs of up to 45% on Chinese electric cars, China has threatened retaliatory tariffs on European goods including dairy, cognac, pork and auto parts.
However, analysts say there is a limit to China’s ability to hit back. Luxury goods from Europe are unlikely to face tariffs as they generate higher tax revenues, and anything that could deter increasingly frugal Chinese consumers from spending could “the opposite of what the government wants.”
