EU faces 300,000 factory job cuts as China ‘colonises’ supply chains, industry warns

European manufacturing is being pushed toward a new wave of job cuts, with an industry trade body warning that 300,000 factory jobs could disappear across the EU during the rest of 2026.

Eurometal says the losses will accelerate unless Brussels stops what it describes as the “colonisation” of European industry by Chinese component manufacturers. The group points to China’s expanding competition across supply chains as a central threat to the bloc’s manufacturers.

The warning comes as China records what the article describes as a record trade surplus of €1 billion a day with the European Union. The scale of that imbalance has intensified pressure on Brussels to act as European factories struggle to compete.

In Brussels, protesters plan to use 10 coffins to symbolize the condition of the manufacturing industry. The demonstration is intended to highlight the jobs and industrial capacity that trade representatives say are at risk.

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