The European Union should strike deals with Beijing to curb imports in sectors such as chemicals, machinery and pharmaceuticals, EU ministers said yesterday, as the bloc faces an ‘unsustainable’ and damaging goods trade deficit with China.
European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic earlier this month agreed with Beijing for the EU to cut imports of hybrid vehicles from China by more than half to address a deficit that has swelled to more than €1 billion ($1.12bn) a day, and to support Europe’s struggling carmakers. Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee told reporters dialogue with China could be a stepping stone ‘to look to more industries and sectors where we can address that imbalance.’
China needs foreign buyers for the flood of relatively cheap state-subsidised goods its own shoppers can’t absorb, and the EU is torn between welcoming those imports to ease living costs and keeping them out to rebuild its own factories.
The EU’s goods trade deficit swelled to more than €370bn ($415.07bn) in 2025 and is on course to break well past €400bn this year, a situation European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called ‘unsustainable.’
European industry says the export surge, dubbed China Shock 2.0, is already causing factory closures and job losses.
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