Overview
- EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao opened a Trade and Investment Consultation Mechanism on June 29 to manage rising commercial tensions.
- The mechanism creates four workstreams on trade and investment balancing, export controls, intellectual property rights, and World Trade Organization reform plus a joint monitoring system to flag disruptive import surges.
- Šefčovič set a roadmap with a September progress check and a ministerial visit to Beijing in October as a deadline for tangible results.
- Brussels is simultaneously preparing faster trade‑defence and industrial tools such as anti‑dumping/anti‑subsidy duties, safeguard measures, and supplier‑diversification rules to protect vulnerable sectors.
- European firms face acute pressure from Chinese imports and political splits persist across EU capitals, raising the risk of retaliation if talks fail and underlining the stakes for jobs and supply chains.