Alienated by Trump, U.S. allies turn to China and India for trade deals

Amna Nawaz:

Trade deals around the world are being negotiated, signed and celebrated without the U.S.

Leaders are looking to other sources of economic partnership, as turbulent tariff policies, harsh rhetoric and unpredictable social media posts from President Trump push allies to the edge.

Nick Schifrin has this report.

Nick Schifrin:

This is not the pivot to Asia the U.S. intended. Today, the first British prime minister visits to Beijing in eight years, and Keir Starmer told Chinese President Xi Jinping he wanted a lasting relationship.

Keir Starmer, British Prime Minister:

I have long been clear that the U.K. and China need a long-term, consistent and comprehensive strategic partnership.

Nick Schifrin:

The person who must not be named, President Trump, only referenced in passing by a Chinese leader who presented himself as a source of stability.

Xi Jinping, Chinese President (through interpreter):

Currently, the international situation is intertwined with changes and turmoil. As long as we uphold a broad historical perspective, transcend our differences and respect each other, we will be able to deliver results that can withstand the test of history.

Nick Schifrin:

It's not the first time in history a British delegation has visited Beijing to make business deals. But it comes despite British criticisms that China is a threat to national security.

Kemi Badenoch, British Conservative Leader:

Cybersecurity, stealing intellectual property. Keir Starmer doesn't really know how to deal with China. My worry is that he's going there with a begging bowl.

Nick Schifrin:

But more European leaders are walking the Chinese red carpet. Earlier this week, it was Finland's prime minister, Petteri Orpo.

Petteri Orpo, Prime Minister of Finland (through interpreter): China-Finland relations have developed steadily regardless of changes in the international situation.

Nick Schifrin:

Those changes have pushed Europe into Asia's arms.

Ursula Von Der Leyen, President, European Commission:

We did it. We delivered the mother of all deals.

Nick Schifrin:

This week, the European Union and India finalized a deal that represents a third of global trade. And, today, Europe upgraded its ties with Vietnam, as European Council President Antonio Costa warned of changing tides.

Antonio Costa, President, European Council:

hat the moment when international rules-based order is under threat from multiple sides, we need to start to stand side by side as reliable and predictable partners.

President Donald Trump:

We have helped them for so many years. We have never gotten anything.

Nick Schifrin:

It was only last week that President Trump proved himself unpredictable over Danish territory Greenland and disparaged the very concept of NATO's collective defense.

President Donald Trump:

And all we're asking for is to get Greenland, including right, title and ownership, because you need the ownership to defend it. You can't defend it on a lease.

Nick Schifrin:

The European response has been visceral.

Kaja Kallas, Foreign Affairs High Representative, European Commission:

Europe is no longer Washington's primary center of gravity. The shift has been ongoing for a while. It is structural, not temporary. It means that Europe must step up. No great power in history has ever outsourced its survival and survived.

Mark Carney, Canadian Prime Minister:

We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.

Nick Schifrin:

Western doubt in the U.S. most publicly expressed by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who recently made his own automotive trade deal in Beijing, despite a threat from President Trump.

Mark Carney (through interpreter):

The world has changed. Washington has changed. Almost nothing is normal in the United States at the moment. That is the truth.

Nick Schifrin:

But Canada and Europe still rely on the U.S. for security, natural gas and oil. And the trading relationship is worth more than $5 trillion, all of which pointed out this week by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary-General:

If anyone thinks here, again, that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the U.S., keep on dreaming. You can't. In that scenario, you would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the U.S. nuclear umbrella. So, hey, good luck.

Nick Schifrin:

The hard reality of Europe's present, but they're considering a more independent future thanks to doubts sowed by President Trump.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Nick Schifrin.