EU toughens China stance, fears retaliation
Brussels signals a more aggressive trade posture with new defensive tools and diversification plans, but unity and exposure to Chinese retaliation remain the key constraints
Welcome back to What’s Happening in China, your weekly China brief.
A few weeks ago, in an interview with Le Monde, EU trade chief Stéphane Séjourné referred to China as an “existential challenge.”
At the close of this week’s European Council summit, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised to use EU trade defense tools “more proactively and more strategically.”
“€1 billion in trade deficit per day is simply unsustainable. We cannot continue to raise these issues without any concrete results,” said European Council President António Costa.
The European Commission said it would propose a new diversification instrument, a country-agnostic—but clearly aimed at China—tool designed to reduce dependence on critical, weaponizable chokepoints.
Despite the rhetoric, European leaders fear retaliation, and maintain that the goal is de-risking, not decoupling. But retaliation is inevitable, and unity will be crucial.
"Retaliation will not affect everyone equally. Not everyone is equ…
