CHINA WILL NOT flood the Irish or European markets with its goods as a result of the trade war with the US, China’s Ambassador to Ireland has said.

There are growing fears that the intensifying tariffs between the US and China will result in the European market being overburdened with goods from Beijing, especially as Brussels already feels that certain sectors are currently overcapacity.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasised the EU’s opposition to this during a phone call with the Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang last week, telling him that his country has a critical role to prevent it.

China’s ambassador to Ireland Zhao Xiyuan told RTÉ News this evening that his country’s will introduce a mechanism to track ‘trade diversion’ – when supplies shift their exports to markets with lower tariffs – and it will take effect soon.

Large suppliers from one country choosing to prioritise trading areas more, such as the EU’s single market, due to it having lower tariffs in place can take away business from and undercut indigenous or local companies.

Chinese goods flooding the European market could massively disrupt the EU’s renewed focus on increasing trade between member states in areas such as defence, infrastructure and tech.

Speaking this evening, Xiyuan stressed the need for China’s trading partners, such as Ireland and the EU, to work with the country at this time and strengthen its trading relationship.

“We are not a country to eat the meat and spit out the bone,” he said.

“We eat the meat with our partners – but also we think the bone is nutritious – and so we cook the bone, to make soup, to share with our partners. That’s our attitude, our position.”

‘Trust with US has diminished’

The Chinese ambassador said that trust between his country and the US has “diminished” in recent years with the successive approval of tariffs from Washington on goods from Beijing.

Xiyuan affirmed that China will continue to use its policy tools to respond with reciprocal tariffs, which will include looking to strengthen its trade agreements with other countries.

File image of ambassador Zhao Xiyuan speaking in his previous role in Kenya. Alamy, file Alamy, file

He added, however, that China is still seeking that the US – its largest trading partner and competitor – come to the negotiating table in order to resolve the deepening trade war between both nations.

A statement from US President Donald Trump today said: “The ball is in China’s court. China needs to make a deal with us. We don’t have to make a deal with them.”

“There’s no difference between China and any other country except they are much larger,” he said.

Xiyuan also sought to detail China’s ability to enter other markets, telling RTÉ News’ SixOne programme that it is his country’s view that the US is not “the world” and that its trading relationships with other partners can be strengthened.

Trump has imposed an additional 145% tariff on many goods from China, stacking atop duties from previous administrations. This involved 20% duties over fentanyl and other illicit drugs, as well as 125% over the country’s trade practices.

China, in response, has imposed 125% tariffs on American goods – but said it will ignore any further measures by the Trump administration, seeking to instead strike a deal between the two governments. 

With reporting by AFP.