Onlykashmir.in News Desk
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has declared that Brussels will deploy every available policy instrument to narrow what she called an “unsustainable” trade imbalance with China, signalling a hardening of the European Union’s economic posture toward Beijing.
Speaking on the sidelines of high level talks in the bloc’s capital, von der Leyen said the goods trade deficit between the EU and China had crossed a critical threshold, with the shortfall exceeding one billion dollars a day over the past year. She characterised the situation as having reached a tipping point that could no longer be managed through incremental measures alone.
The Commission chief linked the widening gap to a broader pattern she described as a “Second China Shock,” a reference to the wave of low cost Chinese manufactured goods that European officials say has accelerated de-industrialisation across the continent. Unlike the first shock, which primarily hit low end manufacturing in the early 2000s, officials in Brussels argue this second wave is now reaching higher value sectors including electric vehicles, batteries, solar equipment and advanced machinery, threatening jobs and industrial capacity in Germany, France and other manufacturing heavyweights.
Von der Leyen’s remarks come amid growing pressure within the EU to respond more assertively to what many member states view as state subsidised overcapacity in China’s export sector. The Commission has already imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and has opened investigations into subsidies across several other industries, but critics within European industry have argued these steps have not gone far enough to stem the flow of underpriced goods into the single market.
Trade analysts say the EU faces a delicate balancing act. Reducing the deficit requires either boosting European exports to China, a market that remains only partially open in many sectors, or restricting Chinese imports through tariffs and non-tariff barriers, a path that risks retaliation against European exporters, particularly in autos, luxury goods and agriculture. Beijing has previously responded to EU tariff actions with countermeasures targeting European brandy, dairy and pork exports.
The European Commission president’s comments are likely to feature prominently in upcoming discussions among EU trade ministers, as the bloc weighs further defensive trade measures while trying to avoid a full-blown trade war with its second largest trading partner.
