EU wants initial Chinese action on trade gap by early October

By Philip Blenkinsop

BRUSSELS, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The European Commission will seek commitments from China to work on tackling a widening trade gap with the European Union and for Beijing to take some initial action by early October, European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on Tuesday.

EU leaders asked the Commission in June to produce results from dialogue with China, after its trade surplus with the EU hit €360.6 billion ($412 billion) in 2025, ⁠a ​15% rise on 2024. The surplus widened by 9% in the first six months of 2026.

Sefcovic said he wanted talks to address massive Chinese exports, restrictions on EU exports and Beijing's export curbs on critical supplies, particularly minerals needed by the EU.

Chinese exports of textiles, chemicals, plastics, machinery, batteries and electric and hybrid cars to the EU have sharply increased in the past year. The EU has complained much of this is driven by Chinese overcapacity.

Beijing says that hyping up issues such as economic imbalances and overcapacities is protectionism and designed to exert pressure on and restrict China.

Sefcovic, who previously said he wanted talks with China to produce "tangible results" by early next month when he is due to travel to Beijing, did not specify which exports China might limit. 

"What we definitely need to bring back are clear pointers, the sense of travel where we are going, to have a couple of pilot schemes where I can prove for a certain group of products that this consultation, this cooperation works and that we believe we can develop the mechanics further to address this issue," Sefcovic said during a panel debate in Berlin.

Sefcovic said during the event organised by EU institutions that his priorities would be addressing the growing trade deficit, notably the surge of Chinese exports, removing barriers EU exports face in China and securing clarity on Chinese exports of critical supplies, such as rare earths and legacy chips.   

Beijing has taken advantage of its dominance in processing critical minerals by placing export restrictions on rare earths in April 2025.

The EU trade chief said the EU was not going to solve its massive trade deficit with one trip to Beijing, but the process needed to begin and required involvement from both sides.

"It's very clear that if we will not be able to demonstrate that this way works there will be huge political pressure to look for other solutions because it would be detrimental to the future of the European economy," Sefcovic said. 

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Alexander Smith)