Overview
- EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič met China’s Li Chenggang in Paris this Thursday and said teams will prepare for a Sefčovič–Wang ministerial meeting in Brussels later in June to seek practical, outcome‑oriented talks.
- Brussels has moved beyond one‑off tariffs toward a combined approach that blends the March Industrial Accelerator Act with tougher trade‑defence tools and sector measures to protect key industries.
- Officials are developing an “overcapacity instrument” designed to tackle systemic excess production rather than fighting each product case by case and are already planning cuts to tariff‑free steel quotas and higher duties to block circumvention.
- Member states remain divided, with France pressing for stricter limits and partial decoupling in strategic sectors while Germany and others urge caution to protect integrated supply chains.
- The EU is boosting supply‑chain resilience by stockpiling critical minerals and deepening partner ties, but commissioners privately acknowledge likely Chinese retaliation and plan to use mid‑June summits to refine next steps.