EU trade envoy Maros Sefcovic began two days of talks in Beijing aimed at averting a trade war, calling for better access to the Chinese market and stronger economic security.
BEIJING: The European Union's top commerce official said on Thursday (Oct 8) that the bloc's trade deficit with China was "unsustainable", as he kicked off two days of talks in Beijing aimed at averting a trade war. "Day one in China, with one goal: begin rebalancing our ... unsustainable trade deficit," Maros Sefcovic said on X. "I started by hearing directly from EU businesses here. The message around the table was clear: the need to improve access to the Chinese market, while boosting our economic security," he added. Last year, every day, China exported to the EU around a billion euros (US$1.1 billion) more in goods and services than went the other way, according to European figures. Many in Europe blame this on unfair trade practices by Beijing, including state subsidies and price dumping, undercutting European rivals in industries from cars to chemicals. But Europe can ill afford to anger China. The Asian giant could throttle supplies of items such as rare earth minerals that are vital for the continent's industrial sector - or throw up barriers to European exports to China. The two days of discussions by Sefcovic in Beijing came as France and Germany, the bloc's two biggest powers, threaten to up the ante. According to a letter seen by AFP on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called for a "credible instrument" to respond quickly to any escalation by Beijing, although China was not mentioned explicitly. The proposed weapon - to be discussed at an EU leaders' summit next week - would give the European Commission the power to respond to a trade aggression within days.