Like it or Not, the EU and China are Already Engaged In a Trade War
Europe has the tools to do more than limit imports of particular Chinese products. As long as China keeps its current economic model, it will have to use them.
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and European Union Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič during a meeting in Brussels, Belgium, June 29, 2026. Credit:
Maroš Šefčovič via X
Global trade imbalances, broadly associated with China’s exceptionally large trade surplus and what’s been labelled the ‘China Shock 2.0’, are stirring up a hornet’s nest of macroeconomic trouble. Much of the recent focus has been on Europe, partly because the bilateral U.S.-China trade position has, at least superficially, faded as an immediate bone of contention, while the EU’s bilateral goods trade deficit with China has surged to about 360 billion euros, or roughly 1 billion euro
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