No seat, no cards at the table: Europe fears being the loser in Trump-Xi deal-making

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump speak during a state dinner at the White House in Washington DC., US, on Sept 24.

BRUSSELS – For years, the nightmare scenario feared by European governments was that of a major confrontation between the United States and China: trade tariffs spiralling ever higher, supply chains severed, a clash over Taiwan that would divert US attention from Russia - Europe’s biggest threat.

This week’s state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington has suddenly inverted that fear: what now unsettles Europe’s governments is the prospect of a Sino-American accommodation, on terms set by Washington and Beijing but with the costs exported to everyone else.