Overview
- European commissioners met on Friday to push a shift from company-level probes to sector-focused measures that would use safeguards, quotas, tariffs and wider application of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation.
- Trade officials are developing a proposed “diversification instrument” that could require firms in critical sectors to use multiple suppliers in different countries to reduce reliance on Chinese supply chains.
- A France-led group of five member states has pressed for accelerated, cross-sector investigations while Germany signalled it is now open to discussing firmer trade-defence steps, highlighting an easing of Berlin’s prior caution.
- Beijing publicly accused the EU of selective use of data and warned it would take necessary countermeasures if Brussels tightens restrictions, raising the prospect of reciprocal trade actions that could hit export‑dependent EU members.
- The push responds to a roughly €360 billion goods deficit with China in 2025 and growing import surges, and the Commission plans to refine proposals ahead of the G7 meeting on June 15 and the EU leaders’ summit on June 18–19 with formal measures possible later this year.