EU and China Agree to New Trade Consultation Mechanism Amid Tensions

BRUSSELS — The European Union and China agreed on Monday to establish a new high-level consultation mechanism to manage growing commercial tensions and address the bloc’s widening trade deficit with Beijing.

Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said after meeting Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Brussels that the EU and China are launching a Trade and Investment Consultation Mechanism to tackle the economic imbalances that Brussels says are battering European industry.

Šefčovič added he would visit China in October, when he hoped to present the “first tangible results.”

The two sides issued a joint statement on the topic, the first of its kind since 2019, although Šefčovič briefed reporters alone after the bilateral. The talks were due to continue Monday evening before Wang travels to Britain on Tuesday.

The platform will be divided into four main categories: trade and investment balancing, export controls, intellectual property rights, and World Trade Organization reform.

A working group dedicated to the first topic will be launched immediately and will set up a joint mechanism to monitor trade flows. The idea, the commissioner said, is to share a set of data that both sides can agree on. Once that is in place, should there be any destabilizing spikes in imports the two sides could meet at the political level to discuss possible action.

EU leaders had signaled at a summit earlier this month that they expected “expedient action,” Šefčovič said. “What would be very important for us [is] to see the direction of travel, how we want to address the issue of the trade deficit,” he added, referring to the EU’s €1 billion-a-day trade shortfall with China that he has previously called unsustainable.

A roadmap with expected deliverables is due in the coming days, Šefčovič said, while a first assessment of whether progress is being made is expected in September.

He also welcomed Wang’s assurance that China’s existing export controls on rare earths and permanent magnets won’t disrupt EU supply chains. China, which dominates the global supply of rare earth elements, briefly throttled exports last fall in a tariff dispute with the United States.