EU sends trade envoy to Beijing amid growing deficit concerns

Summarised from 4 outlets · Updated 8 Oct, 05:19 · Archive

European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic is in Beijing for talks with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao over the EU's €1 billion daily trade deficit with China.

European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic has travelled to Beijing for two days of talks with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao on Thursday and Friday. The discussions centre on the EU's growing trade deficit with China, which stands at more than €1 billion daily, and Chinese curbs on exports of rare earths and other critical minerals.

The EU is also seeking to limit Chinese hybrid car exports to Europe. China rejected an earlier EU request for voluntary curbs on these exports. The European Commission now hopes Beijing will accept a unilateral EU measure to cap hybrid imports, according to the Financial Times.

The talks take place as pressure mounts within the EU for a more assertive trade policy. On Wednesday, EU lawmakers voted 454 to 86 on a non-binding resolution calling for 'economic reciprocity and a proportionate EU response if China does not open its markets'. Belgian lawmaker Hilde Vautmans, who led the resolution, said 'Europe has economic power, it's time we used it'.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged the EU to prepare a 'credible instrument' that could be quickly activated to strike back against countries that harm the bloc economically. German officials said the EU needed a tool as powerful as the Section 301 tariffs imposed by the United States or China's restrictions on critical-mineral exports. The proposed measure would give the European Commission the power to respond to trade aggression within days and is to be discussed at an EU leaders' summit next week.

China's commerce ministry said the country would deliver a 'resolute response' to safeguard its industries if the EU imposes restrictions against Chinese companies or products. The standoff reflects anxiety across the 27-nation bloc over job losses as Chinese exports surge in key sectors from steel to automobiles.

How it is being reported

• EU’s top trade envoy in China for tense talks over carsBrussels blames Beijing’s surging exports for the loss of tens of thousands of manufacturing jobsFinancial Times · 8 Oct, 05:37
• EU takes firmer stance on China’s trade practices as Beijing talks beginGermany and France this week called on the EU to adopt stronger tools to defend European sectors that have fallen prey to surging Chinese imports.The Japan Times · 8 Oct, 05:06
• EU sends envoy to Beijing as rising exports from China raise economic anxietyThe European Union is bracing for a confrontation with China as a trade deficit exceeding $1 billion a day heightens anxiety over potential job losses and pushes the bloc’s political leaders to take a more aggressive approach toward its second-largest trading partnerIndependent World · 8 Oct, 05:01
• EU-China trade talks begin in Beijing amid escalating pressureTalks will focus on the €1bn daily deficit and rare earth export restrictions.Al Jazeera · 8 Oct, 00:45

In this story: European Union · Maros Sefcovic · Wang Wentao · China · Emmanuel Macron · Friedrich Merz · Hilde Vautmans

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem