EU seeks to develop new tools to tackle China export flood
EU leaders have agreed during talks that the bloc must develop beefed-up trade defenses to curb a surge of Chinese exports deemed an existential threat to European industry by Brussels, while simultaneously seeking "constructive dialogue" with Beijing.
There is a growing consensus in the European Union that it is too dependent on China, and Brussels fears this makes it vulnerable to potential coercion and supply shocks.
The 27-nation bloc's trade deficit in goods hit around 360 billion euros ($413 billion) last year, meaning Chinese exports sharply exceeded the EU's.
During a two-hour summit dinner in Brussels on June 18, leaders chewed over how the EU could address the imbalance, and whether the bloc needed to boost its arsenal.
