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EU-China trade pressure
Europe’s trade surplus with China is under strain as the EU’s trade deficit with China rose from €24.5 billion to €26.8 billion, an increase of about 15% over the year as a whole, according to Eurostat data published on Friday, February 13.
“This is a major shift for the European Union”
The bloc’s goods deficit with China grew 15% to €360 billion last year, with all 27 member states experiencing a shortfall, and expanded to €98 billion in the first quarter, the highest since 2022, according to CNBC.
In Brussels, the European Union implemented new measures on steel imports and low-value e-commerce parcels effective from July 1, 2026, as part of efforts to tackle its substantial trade deficit with China and protect strategic European industries, according to Brussels Signal.
The package includes a tightening of steel import safeguards and the removal of the de minimis customs exemption for small parcels, replaced by a new flat €3 duty, while customs duties apply to e-commerce parcels worth up to €150 entering the EU, according to Brussels Signal.
European trade chief Maros Sefcovic said after meeting with China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao that disputes over trade imbalances, export controls and intellectual property must deliver "tangible results" by October, as the EU tries to rebalance trade with Beijing, according to CNBC.
Steel and parcels, WTO
Brussels Signal said the updated steel safeguards cut the volume of tariff-free steel imports to 18.3 million tonnes per year, a reduction of around 47 per cent from 2024 levels, and said imports exceeding the quota face tariffs of up to 50 per cent.
The same source said the EU scrapped the de minimis exemption for parcels valued below €150, introducing a flat €3 customs duty charged per item, and said a shipment containing three different product types therefore attracts three separate charges.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the changes as restoring “fairness for European businesses” and better protecting consumers from unsafe products, according to Brussels Signal.
Brussels Signal also said China has criticised the steel restrictions and is engaging through World Trade Organisation (WTO) channels, and it quoted China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun saying on June 30 that China and the EU are “partners, not rivals”.
CNBC reported that Beijing agreed to set up a bilateral working group to monitor trade flows and offered “reassurance” that existing export controls on rare earths and permanent magnets will not disrupt EU supply chains, after Sefcovic met Wang Wentao in Brussels.
Heat wave demand, talks
CNBC framed the EU’s challenge as a mismatch between trade goals and consumer demand, saying the bloc’s worst-ever heat wave is driving unprecedented demand for imports of Chinese-made air conditioners.
“January 7 by Patrick Bond”
The report said Midea Group orders for its PortaSplit unit topped 200,000 this year as of Monday, double 2025's pace, and it added that none of Europe's five best-selling air-conditioner brands is owned in the EU.
CNBC quoted Denis Depoux, global managing director at Roland Berger, saying, "Half of the EU's imports from China are technology products, from cars to sophisticated machinery," and it said he called the shift "an inversion of the past decades and is scary for European industries".
In parallel, the EU and China released a rare joint statement on Monday aimed at balancing trade between the two economies and addressing market access issues, and CNBC said Sefcovic called the trend of rising Chinese exports and shrinking EU market share "not sustainable."
The South China Morning Post reported that China told the European Union it is open to exploring ways to cut its massive trade surplus with the bloc during talks in Brussels this week, and it said Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao signalled to EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic that China was willing to consider purchase agreements covering European goods.
