Šefčovič goes to Beijing with a €1 billion-a-day deficit and an October deadline
Victoria Shinder1 min readEU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič headed to Beijing on 7 October for two days of talks with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, Euronews reported, under pressure to bring home concrete results on Chinese imports.
The numbers behind the trip. The EU's trade deficit with China has reached a record €1 billion a day, and every EU member state now runs a deficit with China. Brussels had given Beijing until October to deliver "tangible" results on what officials call trade-distorting exports.
What has not worked so far. China recently rejected the EU's proposal for voluntary export restrictions on electric vehicles. Since the talks began, the Commission has opened several probes into Chinese products and imposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese firms; Beijing has threatened retaliation and opened an anti-dumping probe of its own into the EU days before the talks.
What leaders want. EU leaders expect Šefčovič back with results before their summit in Brussels next week. "They want to see the direction of travel. They want to even have a concept for the solution of this issue, a pilot scheme," he said. He warned that failure this month would trigger "a strong political movement" among leaders for harsher measures.
The pressure behind him. France and Germany called on Monday for a new tool that would let the Commission react quickly to economic threats, up to "an immediate cut-off from the internal market if needed". Euronews also reports that member states had been holding back investigations in the chemicals sector that could lead to safeguards — quotas and tariffs.
Why it matters for markets. A failed round would move the EU-China relationship from negotiation towards trade defence, with the sectors already named in this dispute — electric vehicles and chemicals — first in line.