EU demands concrete results from China after negotiators' call ahead of October talks
The European Commission has called for tangible outcomes in trade talks with Beijing following a video call between Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and his Chinese counterpart. The dispute centers on the EU's widening trade deficit and China's control over rare earth exports.
The European Commission on Thursday increased pressure on China, calling for concrete results in ongoing trade negotiations. The statement followed a one-hour video call between EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and China's Trade Minister Wang Wentao.
Brussels is seeking commitments from Beijing to rebalance the trade relationship, as the EU's trade deficit with China has been growing by €1 billion per day. China, meanwhile, is pushing for continued access to the EU's market of 450 million consumers while resisting European calls to cut its exports.
The Commission said tangible outcomes must be delivered at the second session of the Trade and Investment Council in Beijing in October, which Šefčovič will co-chair. It described this as a signal of moving from rhetoric to results, adding that any outcome must be credible.
Rare earths remain a key sticking point
During the call, the two sides discussed mutual market access and China's export controls on rare earth materials. China holds a near-monopoly on the production and processing of these strategic resources, which are essential for the EU's green technology, defence and automotive sectors, giving Beijing considerable leverage. The EU wants assurances that China will not again halt rare earth exports, as it did a year ago during a trade dispute with the United States.
In the coming weeks, EU officials are expected to travel to China for further technical discussions before Šefčovič himself visits Beijing on 8-9 October. In her State of the Union address to the European Parliament on Wednesday, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said words were good but deeds were better, stressing that the EU stood ready to deploy all its trade defence tools.
Šefčovič said in an interview that without a concrete deliverable to present to EU leaders, political interest would shift toward pursuing other instruments, such as anti-dumping duties or tariffs. A diversification tool is also being developed to help EU companies reduce reliance on Chinese critical minerals. Relations between Brussels and Beijing remain tense, partly due to EU proposals favouring European-made products, which China has threatened to counter with retaliatory measures.
