EU 'open to doing more trade with China', says Michael McGrath

The EU Commission is concluding trade  negotiations with a number of countries. Picture: Nicolas Tuctat/AFP

The EU is open to doing “more trade” with China, Irish commissioner Michael McGrath has said, amid new tariffs being lashed on the bloc by the US.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Mr McGrath said the EU wanted to have a more balanced trading relationship with China.

“The EU is prepared to trade with partners that are reliable and trustworthy and who respect the international rules-based system of trade that has served us well,” he said.

“So we are open to doing more trade with China, but on the basis of international rules and fair trade terms between the EU and China.”

The European commissioner for democracy, justice and the rule of law said that it would not be about “replacing one set of trade with another” amid ongoing trade issues with the US.

Mr McGrath said the new commission is concluding trade negotiations with a number of countries, adding that the world is open to trading with the EU.

What we are finding is that more and more parts of the world are looking to the EU now as being the most reliable and trusted partner for international trade.

“Because we respect the rules and when we make commitments, we seek to honour them faithfully and that is a very valuable commodity in the world in which we live at the moment.”

Ahead of the tariffs being introduced, Mr McGrath said that Maros Sefcovic, the trade commissioner, would be engaging with the Trump administration.

“We’re doing all that we can to convince them that the transatlantic economic relationship is mutually beneficial, about €1.5tn of trade every year, supporting millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic,” Mr McGrath said.

“To put all of that at risk through a tariff war would be a very serious mistake, in our view.”

Rearming the EU

In addition, Mr McGrath said that recent proposals from the European Commission to begin rearming the EU would be up to the Irish Government to engage with, but that the plan was not incompatible with Irish military neutrality.

The proposal, tabled by commission president Ursula von der Leyen, could see the EU borrow up to €150bn to ramp up re-arming the continent.

Commissioner Michael McGrath said the EU is open to negotiating with partners 'who respect the international rules-based system of trade'. Picture: Leah Farrell

“That military neutrality is not incompatible with having an ability to defend yourself,” Mr McGrath said.

He cited the Government’s plans to increase defence spending overall, while highlighting Irish engagement with a number of EU defence initiatives.

It isn’t all about hard equipment and arms. It is also about intelligence, it’s about radar, it’s about protecting the seabed, the cables that are used for the transmission of data.

The former Fianna Fáil TD said that Ireland no longer has the security guarantee provided by distance, as it had in the past.

“Ultimately, the challenge for Europe is it has to be able to stand on its own two feet. 

"We cannot rely on a US guarantee of European security into the future. We have to be able to defend ourselves,” Mr McGrath said.

“I wish it were not necessary and I wish that we could focus our spending on health and education and housing and providing the services that people need.

“But the reality is that our security can no longer be taken for granted.”