China pushes back on Europe trade
- Chinese state media accused Europe of treating its nearly $300 billion trade gap with China as evidence of dumping and overcapacity. - The commentary cited about 15 trade‑remedy investigations over the past year and said some think‑tanks recommend blanket 30% tariffs. - As state media commentary, the piece signals Beijing's growing frustration with European trade remedies and escalatory rhetoric on tariffs. (english.news.cn)
China’s state news agency used a commentary on April 18 to accuse Europe of turning a widening trade gap into a case for new tariffs and trade probes. (china.org.cn) The piece, published by Xinhua under columnist Shao Xia, said European voices were citing China’s nearly $300 billion surplus with the European Union and calling it proof of “overcapacity,” “dumping” and trade diversion. It said that argument had helped drive 15 trade-remedy investigations in the past year and proposals from some think tanks for blanket 30% tariffs. (china.org.cn) Trade-remedy cases are the European Union’s legal tools for answering what it sees as unfair trade, including dumping and subsidies. Brussels has already used them on Chinese electric vehicles, imposing definitive countervailing duties on October 29, 2024, for five years, with rates ranging from 7.8% for Tesla’s China-made cars to 35.3% for SAIC. (ec.europa.eu) The trade gap at the center of the argument is large by any measure. The European Commission says the European Union’s goods deficit with China was €305.8 billion in 2024, after EU imports from China reached €519 billion and exports totaled €213.3 billion. (policy.trade.ec.europa.eu) Eurostat put the 2024 goods deficit at €304.5 billion and said China was the European Union’s largest source of imports, accounting for 21.3% of all extra-European Union imports. The same release said EU exports to China fell 0.5% from 2023 while imports fell 4.5%. (ec.europa.eu) European officials do not describe the imbalance the way Xinhua does. The Commission says the economic relationship is “critically unbalanced,” points to asymmetry in market access, and says Chinese industrial policy creates distortions that spill over to trading partners. (policy.trade.ec.europa.eu) That dispute has been building well beyond cars. The European Union has also opened cases or imposed measures tied to Chinese subsidies and pricing in sectors including wind turbines and mobile access equipment, a category of lifting machinery used in construction and telecom work. (windeurope.org, policy.trade.ec.europa.eu) Beijing has answered through both politics and litigation. China challenged the European Union’s electric-vehicle duties at the World Trade Organization in 2024, and a World Trade Organization panel agreed in April 2025 to examine the complaint. (euronews.com, newseu.cgtn.com) The two sides kept talking even as the trade fight hardened. At the July 24, 2025 European Union-China summit, European leaders said they wanted to “rebalance” the trade relationship, while keeping dialogue open on climate and other issues. (consilium.europa.eu) The Xinhua commentary does not change policy by itself, but it shows how Beijing is framing the next phase of the argument: Europe says it is defending fair competition, and China says Europe is punishing comparative advantage. (china.org.cn, policy.trade.ec.europa.eu)
