European industry groups call for urgent EU action on China trade

Forty-four European industry associations ​urged EU members on ​Thursday to take immediate action ‌to ​combat what they said were unfair Chinese trade practices threatening EU manufacturing and ‌risking further job losses. The call from the associations representing sectors including metals, chemicals and automotive parts comes a week before EU leaders convene ‌in Brussels to discuss how best to tackle a growing ‌trade deficit with China of more than €1 billion ($1.12 billion) a day.

The associations said the European Union should more effectively use all instruments available to impose ⁠trade defence ​measures and ⁠adopt a broader approach to look at entire value chains, while avoiding negative ⁠impacts on close European partners, such as Britain, Norway and Switzerland. They ​said the European Commission needed more staff to process complaints ⁠more rapidly. They also called for new tools to deal with state-driven distortions.

EU ⁠leaders ​at the summit are set to discuss Franco-German proposals for expanded trade defence published on Monday and European Trade ⁠Commissioner Maros Sefcovic's two-day trip to Beijing ending on Friday. Sefcovic ⁠is seeking ⁠to persuade China to agree to cut exports to the EU in one sector, most likely hybrid ‌vehicles. ($1 = ‌0.8920 euros)