Senior officials from the European Commission have called the union’s deficit in the trade of goods with China unsustainable and called for immediate measures to rebalance the relationship. At a briefing for journalists on 12 October, the officials said that relations with China had to go beyond dialogue and include measures to address the union’s large trade shortfall with Beijing. In the 2026 second quarter, the EU had a deficit of €103 billion in goods’ trade, its highest level since the third quarter of 2022.
