Many European countries are increasing their vigilance over China ' s export surge, and discussions within the European Union on the introduction of stronger trade defence tools are clearly warming. As the trade deficit against China continued to widen, countries such as France, Germany and the Netherlands began to promote faster and more targeted tariff instruments.
The deficit against China continues to grow.
The data show that the EU ' s trade deficit for goods to China reached Euro36.6 billion in 2025, an increase of 15 per cent over 2024. In the first four months of the year, the gap was further widened by 10 per cent.
In this context, the President of France, Mr. MacLonell, last month proposed that the European Union should establish a “European version of 301” as an instrument to speed up protection measures in cases of perceived unfair trade.
Section 301 of the United States Trade Act 1974 allows the United States to impose tariffs on what it considers unfair or discriminatory trade practices. Reports indicate that this approach has also begun to influence European policy discussions as the Trump Government seeks to reshape trade enforcement tools.
Multinational support for faster tax rights
It was reported that Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium supported the new terms of reference proposed by Markron and hoped that the EU would adopt tariff measures on Chinese goods more rapidly.
At the same time, in another joint paper, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Lithuania called for the EU to study new measures to limit overdependence on a single country, possibly including new tariff or quota arrangements.
The EU had previously imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in 2024 and had launched anti-dumping and countervailing investigations against China. However, the relevant investigations are advancing slowly, and some of the existing safeguards need to be globally applied and difficult to implement in a single context.
The European Union remains focused on dialogue for the time being.
Despite the rise of hard-line internal voices, the EU has not yet turned to more radical action. The report mentioned that the European Union was concerned that a rapid escalation measure might provoke Chinese reaction and that priority would continue to be given to resolving differences through dialogue in the short term.
At the same time, the EU is preparing to introduce a new law to promote the diversification of key supply sources and reduce reliance on a single country. The President of the European Commission, von DeLean, had previously stated that past policies had not prompted enterprises to adjust supply chains sufficiently quickly.
While the United States maintained high trade barriers, Chinese exports were accelerating to other markets, which had also increased pressure on Europe. According to EU officials, the old global trade order is weakening, while Europe ' s pace of dealing with China ' s trade problems remains slow.
Senior EU diplomats have indicated that the discussions have continued since the end of last year, but the EU is still discussing the same issue over and over again, indicating that, while there is a sense of urgency within itself, it will take time to move forward with the new tool of real landing.