The European Union will not retreat from its industrial sovereignty agenda despite Chinese threats of retaliation, EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič has declared, issuing one of his most combative statements yet on the deteriorating state of EU-China trade relations.
Speaking exclusively to Euronews, Šefčovič said the bloc would “always” defend the interests of its companies and workers. “We will fight tooth and nail for every European job, for every European company, for every open sector, if we see they are treated unfairly,” he said, responding to Beijing’s threat of countermeasures over the EU’s Industrial Acceleration Act and its Cybersecurity Act — two pieces of legislation China has accused of discriminating against its companies.
Relations between Brussels and Beijing have deteriorated sharply over the past year. China has tightened export controls on rare earths vital to Europe’s clean technology and defence industries and restricted semiconductor chips essential to the automotive sector, intensifying pressure on already strained supply chains. In response, the EU has pressed ahead with legislation tightening market access for foreign companies and potentially restricting Chinese telecoms firms’ presence across the bloc — prompting Beijing to warn that the EU should not underestimate China’s “firm resolve” to safeguard its interests.
Šefčovič rejected characterisations of the situation as a looming trade war but was unequivocal that Brussels would not operate under pressure. “We never threaten our partners, and we certainly don’t do it through the media,” he said. “What we need is strategic patience and a great deal of courage.” He noted that a trade conflict is easy to start but difficult to exit — a warning he appeared to direct as much at Beijing as at domestic audiences.
At the heart of the EU’s grievances is a trade deficit with China that reached €359.3 billion in 2025 — a level Šefčovič described as “simply unsustainable” and one showing no signs of improvement despite repeated EU calls for rebalancing. Brussels is also growing increasingly concerned that Chinese exports being shut out of the US market by higher tariffs are being redirected toward Europe, compounding existing overcapacity concerns.
Šefčovič said he had invited China’s foreign minister to Brussels for a comprehensive assessment of the current state of relations, stressing that what he wants is “constructive engagement” rather than escalation. He defended the EU’s industrial policy ambitions by pointing to equivalent frameworks elsewhere: “There are very strong industrial policies in China. You have the same in the US, in Canada, in Japan and in Korea. So nobody should be surprised if the European Union responds in kind.”
