The European Union’s trade deficit with China has ballooned to genuinely alarming proportions. In 2025, the bloc recorded a goods trade deficit of €360.6 billion with China, a 15% jump from the prior year. And the bleeding accelerated into 2026, with the first quarter alone producing a record €98 billion deficit.
That works out to roughly €1 billion per day flowing in one direction.
What the EU is planning to do about it
At the EU leaders’ summit on June 18-19, 2026, a coalition of member states led by France and Italy pushed for concrete trade defense measures, including emergency tariffs and stricter procurement restrictions.
The targeted sectors tell you everything about where the pain is concentrated: electric vehicles, steel, chemicals, clean energy technology, and machinery.
