Europe and China agreed on June 25 to update global trade rules and address problems that have arisen since United States President Donald Trump increased tariff restrictions.

The two blocs will form a group to discuss technology policy, government subsidies and other problems that are threatening international commerce. European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen said, “Even though one cannot accept unilateral action—which is in violation of the principles and rules of the wto [World Trade Organization]—once the U.S. [engages in unilateralism], it tells us we have to update the wto to be better suited for the existing environment.”

Mr. Trump continues to impose tariffs on Chinese goods. The most recent is the 25 percent tariff on 1,100 Chinese goods worth $50 billion in imports. China says it will place tariffs on American goods in retaliation. Mr. Trump said he would respond, in turn, with even more tariffs. In total, there are $450 billion in potential tariffs, which covers almost 90 percent of all the goods China send overseas to the U.S. The tariff war between these two world powers is starting to worry companies worldwide. Other governments may be drawn in and decide to barricade against imports with tariffs.

Katainen said the formation of this group doesn’t mean that Europe is siding with China, but that it is “taking action to protect the global system of regulating free trade.” The EU is trying to encourage other governments to join the wto by revising some of the regulations. “I don’t expect these negotiations to be easy,” he continued, “but if nothing is done, the environment for multilateral trade will vanish.”

As America continues to ebb away from world trade and recede to its own border, relations between other superpowers warm up. In this case, all eyes are on Europe and China. Few details have been released about this new trade body, but it matches a trend the Trumpet has been watching for nearly a decade.

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry warned of this coming European-Asian relationship in 2009, based on prophecies in the book of Isaiah.

Isaiah 23 reveals a soon-coming relationship between Europe and China, called a “mart of nations.” Verses 1-2 reveal the biblical identities of the major nations involved: German-led Europe (Tyre), Japan (Tarshish) and China (Chittim). This prophecy discusses a European-Asian relationship, bound by trade and commerce, that will eventually besiege Western nations like America, Britain and the Jewish nation today.

Mr. Flurry wrote that these “two great trading blocs are positioning themselves to control the world. … But that trading partnership won’t last long. Soon they will clash, just before Jesus Christ returns and destroys both of them” (Isaiah’s End-time Vision).

Please read our articles “Trade Wars Have Begun” and “Spiraling Into Trade War” for more information on how trade will greatly affect today’s world order.