appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Finbarr Bermingham

The European Union is prepared to introduce emergency measures to combat China’s extraordinary export surge as new figures showed the trade gap had widened dramatically, its top trade enforcer said on Tuesday.
Safeguard measures that permit tariffs and quotas to be enforced to combat sudden import surges may “become legitimate on a case-by-case basis”, Denis Redonnet told the European Parliament’s trade committee.
Redonnet, the EU’s deputy director general for trade, added that the bloc had little expectation that Beijing would make structural changes to its economic model.
Brussels and Beijing are trying to defuse trade tensions, but the EU has warned that it would be forced to act if there was no progress in reducing the trade imbalance by October.
“Structural rebalancing will not take place before October, what can we do before that October deadline? We’ll look at a number of sectors, try to start rebalancing, try to rein in the export levels,” Redonnet said.
“It may be that we are also in situations because of import surges where contingency trade protection-type tools like safeguards become legitimate and necessary on a case-by-case basis.”
Chinese trade figures published on Tuesday showed that in the first half of the year the trade surplus with the EU grew by 23.7 per cent in US dollar-denominated value terms.
For Germany, Europe’s biggest economy and biggest trader with China, the surplus expanded by 80.8 per cent, calculations based on official data showed.
On Monday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz repeated his accusation that the yuan was artificially devalued, a factor some economists have said is contributing to the surge in Chinese exports.
“We are now trying to steer the dialogue with China towards a solution … an attempt to ⁠persuade China to allow its own currency to float freely, ‌including in the context of competition ⁠in the capital markets,” Merz ⁠said.
Redonnet said the bloc had “come to the view that the Chinese economy today presents to us, but also to many parts of the world, a global macro-industrial challenge” and the outlook for the future was “concerning”.
The EU expected China’s share of global manufacturing to rise from 37 per cent today to up to 45 per cent by 2030, he added, describing it as “a significant increase in what is becoming a form of industrial dominance”.
He said: “There are no signs of any macroeconomic adjustment in China, and no sign that the structural characteristics that I was referring to are fundamentally changing.”


Redonnet added that analysis of the latest five-year plan “seems to confirm this trajectory”.
He confirmed the South China Morning Post’s reporting that at a ministerial meeting last month, Beijing had offered to make purchase commitments to reduce the deficit “in particular where trade is taking place via government procurement or state trading”.
These discussions also touched on the reduction or removal of tariffs and non-tariff barriers in sectors such as agri-food, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and cosmetics.
The next few months are likely to see extensive talks between the two sides, but the EU is also likely to unveil further protective measures.
Last week, in a rare example of the European Commission targeting the Chinese agricultural sector, it opened an anti-dumping probe into imports of Pekin ducks.
This came shortly after anti-dumping duties ranging from 4.3 per cent to 45.3 per cent were imposed on Chinese tyres.
“More than likely we’ll have unilateral protection measures adopted at the EU level,” Redonnet said, adding that industries which formed the “bedrock” of the European economy faced “skyrocketing” Chinese shipments.
Officials from China and the EU will meet before the end of July to discuss their new “joint monitoring mechanism”, in which both sides use the same pre-agreed data to monitor increases in Chinese imports into Europe.


Redonnet confirmed he would talk to Chinese commerce vice-minister Ling Ji in August and visit China in September. Meanwhile, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic is likely to speak with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in September before travelling to Beijing in early October.
“The purpose of the engagement as well as the other measures, is to avoid sleepwalking at two levels. One, not to sleepwalk into excessive dependencies any more but two, not sleepwalking into an unnecessary trade war with China. It’s going to be a combination of … navigating between these two extremes,” Redonnet said.


China seeks German help to stave off EU trade sanctions days before Xi-Trump summit

A shift by China towards service-based economy could help trade imbalance: EU group

Former WTO head Pascal Lamy on the EU’s China choice: get a rebalance, or go protectionist

Trump claims US Greenland security deal, China reportedly among adversaries being kept out

China-EU relations

EU signals emergency import curbs after dramatic growth in Chinese trade gap

The EU recently imposed anti-dumping duties on Chinese tyres. Photo: Xinhua

China signals openness to reducing gaping EU trade surplus as Brussels toughens stance

China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, left, and EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic, who held talks in Brussels as Beijing and the bloc sought to ease escalating trade tensions. Photos: AFP

Shipping containers at a European port, as Brussels weighs new measures to address its trade imbalance with China. Photo: Handout

EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic has set an October deadline for talks with Beijing to show tangible results. Photo: EPA

How Europe’s rush for Chinese air conditioners exposes the gap in Brussels’ trade policy

Demand is surging in Europe for Chinese air conditioners, even as Brussels tightens its trade policy towards Beijing. Photo: Xinhua

A person cools off at a fountain near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France on June 24. Europe’s heatwave has disrupted transit, triggered droughts and led to thousands of excess deaths across the continent. Photo: AP

EU confronts ‘China shock’ ahead of pivotal Brussels trade talks

Volkswagen is reportedly considering cutting 100,000 jobs in the face of fierce competition from China. Photo: Reuters 

News

China

Diplomacy

Brussels looking at ‘case-by-case’ tariffs and quotas after the trade surplus expands by almost a quarter in the first half of the year


Brussels looking at ‘case-by-case’ tariffs and quotas after the trade surplus expands by almost a quarter in the first half of the year.


EU signals emergency import curbs after dramatic growth in Chinese trade gap

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Brussels looking at ‘case-by-case’ tariffs and quotas after the trade surplus expands by almost a quarter in the first half of the year

Brussels looking at ‘case-by-case’ tariffs and quotas after the trade surplus expands by almost a quarter in the first half of the year