European Industry Groups Urge EU Action on China Trade Ahead of Leaders' Summit

Forty-four European industry associations on Thursday called on EU members to take immediate action against what they described as unfair Chinese trade practices threatening EU manufacturing and risking further job losses. The appeal from sectors including metals, chemicals and automotive parts comes a week before EU leaders meet in Brussels to address a trade deficit with China exceeding €1 billion ($1.12 billion) a day. The groups urged the European Union to make more effective use of trade defence instruments, adopt a value-chain-wide approach while avoiding harm to close partners such as Britain, Norway and Switzerland, and provide the European Commission with more staff to process complaints faster. They also sought new tools to counter state-driven distortions. EU leaders will discuss Franco-German proposals for expanded trade defence published Monday and Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic's two-day Beijing trip ending Friday. Sefcovic is seeking Chinese agreement to cut exports to the EU in one sector, most likely hybrid vehicles.