Europe Weighs Tougher and Faster China Trade Tools

A drone view shows electric vehicles for export and containers sitting at a port in Shanghai, China, on April 13, 2025. China Daily via ReutersFive European Union governments are pressing the European Commission (EC) to consider faster and broader trade-defense tools as Chinese overcapacity, trade deficits, manufacturing job losses, and supply-chain concentration move higher on the bloc’s economic-security agenda.Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Lithuania circulated a joint paper ahead of an EC discussion on China policy on May 29, according to reports by the Financial Times and Euractiv, both of which said they had seen the document. The paper has not been publicly released. The countries argued in their joint paper that the EU’s current trade defence system is too slow, too narrow in scope, and too easily circumvented, according to the two outlets.