US-China economic rivalry leaves EU squeezed, ECB worried

Alarm bells were ringing in Strasbourg and New York over the increasingly fierce global competition between the US and China — and where that leaves European economies.

European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde warned on Monday (17 April) that fragmentation of the world economy into rival blocs, led by the US and China, threatens to destabilise global trade, increase inflation and weaken growth.

Meanwhile, top EU officials at the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg...