EU Trade Chief Seeks Deeper Talks with China, Inspired by US Approach

PARIS — EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič wants to take a page from Washington's playbook in trade talks with China.

After meeting with Chinese trade envoy Li Chenggang in Paris on Thursday, the bloc's trade chief told reporters that the EU will engage in deeper negotiations with Chinese authorities to resolve "what is becoming an unsustainable trade deficit with China."

Šefčovič suggested the bloc might draw inspiration from the groundwork done by the U.S. administration ahead of President Donald Trump's visit to China in May.

"I was informed that it [took] more than six rounds of talks between the U.S. and the China to prepare the summits which took place between President Trump and President Xi," he told reporters at a press conference following an OECD ministerial meeting in the French capital.

"I think that we have to get to the same level of intensity of the negotiations."

The EU’s goods trade deficit with China widened to €360 billion last year from €312 billion in 2024. It expanded even more sharply in the first quarter of 2026, trade figures show.

EU leaders plan to discuss how to tackle China's industrial overcapacity and subsidized exports during a June 18-19 European Council meeting; EU commissioners previously discussed how to tackle Beijing's aggressive trade policy at an end-of-May summit. The topic will also be on the agenda of a meeting of G7 leaders France will chair in its Évian-les-Bains region on June 15-17.

While several EU countries, led by France, are calling for tougher measures such as further trade probes and new trade defense instruments, a free-trade coalition led by Germany has long urged caution.

Last weekend, after the Commission meeting, Beijing was quick to threaten retaliation against any new measures targeting China.

Šefčovič said he would use the "important political takeaways" from the upcoming European Council meeting to provide a "framework" for his talks with China’s Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao, scheduled for Brussels in June.

The trade chief added that a consensus was growing among EU commissioners and member countries on the need to address "this fast-growing trade deficit, which is now impacting every single EU member state." At the same time he said any steps taken should be incremental and non-confrontational.

"My objective is a practical, result-oriented approach to addressing our concerns, not escalation," he said.