EU Trade Chief Travels to Beijing as Deficit Hits Record €1 Billion Daily

European Union Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič heads to Beijing on Wednesday for critical two-day talks aimed at rebalancing strained commercial ties with China. The high-stakes negotiations with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao come as Brussels grapples with a record trade deficit reaching €1 billion per day. With an October deadline approaching to secure tangible progress, European leaders are intensifying demands for concrete solutions to counter what they describe as heavily distorted trade flows.

Brussels has pushed for product-specific quotas on Chinese imports after Beijing recently rejected proposals for voluntary export restrictions on electric vehicles. EU leaders, all representing member states now operating trade deficits with China, anticipate actionable progress before next week's summit in Brussels. Šefčovič warned that failing to deliver verifiable results this month would trigger “a strong political movement” across the bloc for “harsher measures,” underscoring that member states need a viable pilot scheme and clear direction.

Pressure has escalated across the European continent as low-cost Chinese exports threaten multiple domestic manufacturing sectors. In response, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron jointly advocated for a robust enforcement tool enabling the European Commission to respond swiftly to economic threats, including powers to enforce an immediate cut-off from the EU internal market if deemed necessary. The European Commission has already initiated multiple investigations into Chinese trade practices and imposed targeted anti-dumping duties.

Tit-for-tat trade frictions are expanding beyond green technology into broader industrial sectors. While EU member states have contemplated protective safeguards and quotas for their chemicals sector, Beijing launched its own retaliatory investigation into EU chemical imports. With both economic superpowers exchanging probe threats, Šefčovič’s mission to Beijing represents a decisive effort to prevent an open trade conflict and establish sustainable terms of market access.