EU Gives Beijing October Deadline to Reduce Trade Imbalance or Face Tougher Measures

The European Union has given Beijing until October to show concrete progress in talks aimed at reducing the bloc’s rapidly widening trade deficit with China.

EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said the negotiations go beyond trade figures and involve the future of European industry. He described the next two weeks as critical and said he planned to hold a video meeting in mid-September with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. An EU negotiating team was also traveling to China this week in search of progress before the deadline.

Sefcovic called the negotiations “highly political” and said European leaders wanted results before October. The EU’s 27 member states, he said, want to see the direction of events and are seeking ideas or a pilot plan to resolve the dispute.

“

These negotiations are highly political.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said earlier this week that dialogue works only when it produces tangible results. If the talks fail to deliver, she said, the EU could turn to defensive measures.

Sefcovic did not detail possible retaliation. He said the European Commission was working to finalize a China-specific “diversification tool” and stressed that EU governments had shown a high degree of unity around the negotiating goals. Without concrete results, he warned, political pressure for tougher action would grow.

“

The EU’s 27 member states want to see the direction in which events are moving. They even want to see ideas for resolving this issue, or what could be called a pilot plan. I am trying to resolve the problem through these negotiations, but the talks must produce very concrete results. Otherwise, there will undoubtedly be strong political calls for tougher measures.