Five EU Nations Urge Tougher Trade Defenses as China Goods Deficit Hits €360 Billion
Updated
Updated · Reuters · May 26
Five EU Nations Urge Tougher Trade Defenses as China Goods Deficit Hits €360 Billion
5 articles · Updated · Reuters · May 26
France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Lithuania asked the EU to speed up and widen trade defenses, arguing current tools are too slow, too narrow and too easy to evade.
A May 22 paper proposes broader anti-dumping and anti-subsidy probes, more sector-wide safeguards, and tougher local-content rules to stop rerouting through third countries.
The five countries also want the EU to levy anti-subsidy duties on companies rather than specific products, so firms cannot dodge tariffs by shifting production abroad.
Brussels plans a third-quarter review of trade instruments, including possible new tools to tackle overcapacity and curb reliance on single foreign suppliers.
China is the clear backdrop: about three-quarters of EU anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases involve Chinese exports, and the bloc's goods deficit with Beijing widened to €360 billion in 2025.
As the EU erects trade walls against China, are its own consumers the unintended victims of rising prices?
Can Europe's new geoeconomic strategy effectively counter China's state-driven export machine and save its industries?
Caught between US tariffs and Chinese exports, is Europe becoming the world's primary economic battleground?