In Brussels, where a series of meetings are taking place, officials from various European Union countries are gradually reaching a consensus to adopt a tougher stance towards China’s trade policies. In recent years, the EU and China have been at odds over trade imbalances, overcapacity, market access issues, with each side accusing the other of unfair trade practices.
According to a report by “Politico” on Tuesday, European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič stated after an EU foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday that “the time has come for a reset in our trade relationship with China – this is not about confrontation, but about rebalancing. The current situation is unsustainable – both economically and politically.”
He pointed out that by 2025, the EU’s trade deficit with China had reached 360 billion euros and is still expanding. Even Germany, the EU’s largest economy and a long-standing major exporter, has become the latest EU member state to experience a trade deficit with China.
EU leaders will hold a summit in Brussels on June 18-19. An EU diplomat revealed that there is a growing consensus among the parties to take a tougher stance. However, he emphasized that translating political consensus into concrete policies remains a challenge for the EU.
With the trade deficit issue worsening in recent times, the European Commission has been pursuing a dual-track strategy: intensifying dialogue with Beijing while signaling readiness to take action when necessary.
Recently, the European Commission has initiated several trade investigations and proposed new defensive tools to increase pressure on China’s unfair trade practices.
France, Italy, the Netherlands, Lithuania, and Poland have also supported a joint position paper urging the EU to adopt a tougher stance against trading partners engaging in unfair trade practices.
Led by France, the position paper not only calls for wider deployment of protective measures but also urges actions to prevent exporters from circumventing tariffs by setting up production bases abroad.
However, Beijing remains assertive, squeezing foreign competitors’ market space while displaying a fearless attitude towards a potential trade war.
China recently abruptly canceled two high-level dialogues with the EU that were supposed to take place in Beijing, including a ministerial-level discussion on digital issues and a meeting attended by Olof Skoog, Deputy Secretary-General of the European External Action Service.
Earlier this month, Ling Ji, Deputy Minister of Commerce and Deputy Chief Negotiator for International Trade of China, went to Brussels for discussions with EU counterparts in preparation for a meeting between Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and Maroš Šefčovič at the end of June.
According to an insider, the discussions lasted for hours and the atmosphere was tense. Ling Ji directly questioned Ditte Juul Jørgensen, the head of the EU Directorate-General for Trade, about whether the EU intended to instigate a trade war.
Juul Jørgensen, who recently took over as head of the trade department, assured Ling Ji that this was not the intention of Europe.