EU spends 3 times extra on imports from China than bloc exports there | Global commerce

Consumers and companies within the EU are spending 3 times extra on Chinese imports than their counterparts in China are shopping for from the bloc, a examine has proven.

Customs information confirmed the hole between the EU’s imports from China and exports to China, the commerce deficit, ran at greater than €1bn (£860m) a day in July.

The new information comes simply days after the EU fee president, Ursula von der Leyen, stated the commerce imbalance should be arrested, and earlier than Xi Jinping’s summit with Donald Trump on Thursday in Washington.

The Mercator Institute for China Studies (Meric) stated: “The downside is not merely that the EU is shopping for extra Chinese items. China is promoting extra to Europe whereas shopping for much less from it.”

China and the EU are locked in talks about averting a commerce struggle, and the EU’s commerce commissioner Maroš Šefčovič will journey to Beijing to fulfill his Chinese counterpart on 8 October.

“With the bilateral deficit now exceeding €1bn a day, the widening imbalance will nearly definitely be excessive on the agenda on the deliberate EU-China assembly in October,” Meric stated.

Analysis of Chinese customs information by Meric confirmed the EU’s commerce deficit hit €36.5bn in July alone, up from €32.2bn in July 2025. From January to July, the entire deficit now stands at €234bn, about €21bn greater than the primary seven months of 2025.

“The imbalance has now moved past three to at least one. For each €1 of products the EU exported to China in July, it imported €3.10. The deficit was equal to €1.18bn a day,” Meric stated.

Sources in Brussels stated one of many measures being thought-about is introducing quotas on hybrid automobiles and sure kinds of chemical compounds imported from China.

The Financial Times reported final week that the EU has requested China to voluntarily reduce exports of hybrids, as gross sales rocketed regardless of the imposition of additional tariffs past the ten% levy making use of to all third-country automobile imports.

The newest figures present imports of hybrid vehicles that would not have to be plugged in have grown tenfold, from just below 4,000 automobiles bought in October 2024, to 50,000 in July 2026.

China has repeatedly warned it’s prepared for a commerce struggle however its commerce ministry final week maintained diplomatic stance earlier than the October summit.

“Any resolution ​between China and the EU should guarantee a ​steadiness of pursuits, comply ‌with World Trade Organization ​guidelines and ​the respective home legal guidelines of each facet, and totally take note of the pursuits of industries on either side,” it stated.

Chinese exports might be excessive on the agenda at Thursday’s summit in Washington, with expectations {that a} 12-month suspension of Beijing’s uncommon earth export restrictions might be prolonged.

Kurt Tong, the previous US consul normal to Hong Kong and managing director of the Asia Group strategic advisory agency, stated if a reprieve was not introduced this week it could possibly be introduced at Asia-Pacific Economic Corporation summit subsequent month.

China launched the uncommon earth export restrictions in April 2025, nearly bringing the automobile business within the EU, Mexico, US and the UK to a halt amid shortages of everlasting magnets.

It suspended the ban last October when Trump met Xi in South Korea however didn’t provide any additional concessions when the 2 presidents final met in May in Beijing.