Brussels is therefore exploring a new āinstrumentā that would enable the EU to intervene quickly when foreign governments severely distort the European market through subsidies or other measures. In exceptional cases, access to the European market could even be completely blocked.
EU leaders have already urged the European Commission to urgently adopt new measures. At the same time, Brussels must better utilize existing trade defense tools and continue current negotiations with China. The European Commission aims to make new proposals in December.
Export Council
Against this background, a twelve-member delegation from the European Parliamentās trade committee is traveling to China this week. The MEPs will visit Beijing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai for talks with Chinese authorities and representatives of European companies. This is only the second visit by the parliamentary trade committee to China since 2018.
The trade relationship between the two economic powers is increasingly becoming unbalanced. The EU imports roughly one billion euros more from China daily than Europeans export there. The deficit was 360 billion euros last year and threatens to surpass the 2022 record of 397 billion euros this year.
Electric cars
European companies complain about limited access to the Chinese market while an increasing amount of cheap Chinese products enter Europe. Especially the large-scale Chinese industrial production raises concerns. Brussels also fears dependence on Chinese raw materials, including rare earth metals important for European industries.
Trade Commissioner MaroÅ” Å efÄoviÄ recently reached a preliminary agreement with Beijing on restricting Chinese exports of hybrid cars. But this export amounts to about 15 billion euros, only a small part of the total trade deficit. The European Commission therefore also wants similar agreements on other products.
Countermeasures
Meanwhile, China warns that new European trade restrictions could be protectionist and discriminatory. Beijing threatens countermeasures if Brussels adopts such measures. This puts increasing pressure on the talks between the two trade partners.
