The European Union must avoid a harmful decoupling of global trade as it mulls tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and other goods, the bloc's economic chief said Wednesday.
"But this is not bringing us to a theory of decoupling of global trade, which would be a disaster for both parts of the decoupling," he said.
"The characteristic of the EU economy is to be more open, more influenced by trade, and less by only internal consumption.
This is the reason, the economic reason, why it is in the interest of the European Union to keep the doors of trade open."
Meanwhile, several EU nations are nervous about potential Chinese retaliatory trade measures hitting important domestic industries, from German automotives to French cognac.
Persons:
Paolo Gentiloni, CNBC's Silvia Amaro, Gentiloni
Organizations:
European, European Union, CNBC
Locations:
European Union, Europe, China, EVs, U.S, Russia, Ukraine