China and the European Union are unlikely to become close allies even as relations between the EU and the White House could sour.

It also acts methodically. On April 9th the bloc agreed on its retaliation for Donald Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs, imposed on February 10th. How to answer his subsequent car tariffs and capricious “reciprocal” tariffs will be decided later, illustrating another rule: one fight at a time.

President Donald Trump's administration granted exclusions from steep reciprocal tariffs to smartphones, computers and some other electronics imported largely from China, providing a big break to tech companies like Apple that rely on imported products.