Tensions between the European Union and China are escalating again as the EU considers expanding tariffs and import quotas on Chinese goods. While leaders of major European countries including Germany and France appeared to foster a conciliatory atmosphere through successive visits to China earlier this year, relations are cooling once more as trade disputes intensify.
According to Chinese local media including Xinhua News Agency on the 31st, China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement released the previous day that "if the European side unilaterally introduces new trade tools and takes discriminatory measures, China will resolutely fight back to protect its interests."
The statement came shortly after the EU signaled a tough response to China's "dumping exports." The European Commission held a special meeting on the 29th (local time) to review various policy tools for addressing the widening trade imbalance with China. At the meeting, the Commission reportedly discussed measures for a trade offensive against China, including expanding import quotas and safeguards (emergency import restrictions) on Chinese products and imposing additional tariffs, as well as preferential measures for European-made goods. In a statement issued immediately after the meeting, the Commission said, "The current EU-China trade and investment relationship is not sustainable," adding that "a stronger and more consistent response is needed on both economic and security dimensions."
The EU and China, which have clashed for years over electric vehicles, solar panels and steel, had recently appeared to enter a thaw. Leaders of major EU countries — including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo — have visited China successively since late last year. Analysts said European nations, weary of U.S. President Donald Trump's America First policy, were seeking to recalibrate their relationship with China.
Despite these efforts, the two sides face a fresh crisis as backlash within Europe against the wave of Chinese goods spreads. According to the European Commission, the EU's trade deficit with China stands at 1 billion euros (about 1.7044 trillion won) per day, and 29 million jobs are at risk due to Chinese overproduction. China Briefing, a Chinese economic information publication, noted that "the EU and China are so economically intertwined that confrontation is unavoidable, but they are so politically and structurally misaligned that a meaningful reset of the relationship is difficult to achieve."
