In a 23 September 2026 Euronews interview, Commission Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy Stephane Sejourne said the EU 'urgently' needs to rebalance an 'unsustainable' trade relationship with China, calling the task 'existential for Europeans.'
Euronews cited recent customs data showing the EU's goods deficit with China ran at more than EUR 1 billion a day in July. Sejourne said the bloc is losing thousands of jobs every week and lost 250,000 industrial jobs last year, especially in energy-intensive sectors and automotive supply chains.
Negotiations with Beijing began in June. Brussels wants concrete, 'credible' outcomes before Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic visits Beijing on 8 and 9 October, including sector-by-sector discussion of how to curb the imbalance. Sejourne said Beijing has so far resisted voluntary export curbs.
If talks fail to deliver, Sejourne said trade-defence tools are on the table, including anti-dumping duties and tariffs against unfair subsidies in industries such as electric vehicles and solar panels. He also flagged the risk that Chinese retaliation could restrict rare-earth exports critical to EU industry and defence.
Sejourne linked Europe's outlook to US-China diplomacy during Xi Jinping's Washington visit, warning that a fresh tariff spiral between Washington and Beijing can divert Chinese goods toward the EU. For China-origin exporters and EU importers, the October Beijing meetings are the next hard calendar marker after Golden Week.