But behind the diplomatic niceties, Sefcovic’s message to China rang out loud and clear. Addressing the media after a marathon day of negotiations with Wang, Sefcovic may not have literally said “enough is enough,” but he hardly needed to. “China’s exports to the EU keep rising, while our market share in China keeps shrinking,” Sefcovic said. “This trend is not sustainable. The status quo is not an option.”
For a long time, Europe was seen as the Transatlantic counterargument to United States President Donald Trump’s protectionism, defending free commerce and trade against a rising populist tide. That now feels like a distant memory.