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PoliticsEU trade official: Dialogue alone not enough, unilateral curbs on Chinese exports needed
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The EU's deputy director-general for trade, Denis Redonnet, told MEPs on July 14, 2026, that the European Union will need to impose 'unilateral' measures to curb Chinese exports, stating that 'dialogue alone will not suffice.' This combative stance contrasts with EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic's more conciliatory tone after a June meeting with Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao, where they agreed to set up four 'workstreams' on trade balancing, export controls, intellectual property, and WTO reform. Redonnet argued that the growing trade deficit is structural, resulting from China's economic model that prioritizes production over consumption, and described Beijing's tactics as 'a form of industrial dominance.' He indicated the EU will adopt various parallel measures, including unilateral protection measures, ahead of Sefcovic's planned visit to Beijing in October.
Source report
The European Union will need to impose "unilateral" measures to curb Chinese exports, the bloc's trade enforcer Denis Redonnet told MEPs on Tuesday (14 July).
"Dialogue alone will not suffice," said Redonnet, the European Commission's deputy director-general for trade, during a hearing of the European Parliament's international trade committee.
A More Combative Tone
Redonnet's remarks were notably more combative than those of his superior, EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, following a meeting with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao at the end of June.
At that meeting, Šefčovič and Wang agreed to establish four "workstreams" focused on:
- Trade and investment balancing
- Export controls
- Intellectual property rights
- WTO reform
The workstreams are intended to enable progress on key issues ahead of Šefčovič's planned visit to Beijing in October.
Parallel Measures Planned
Despite the dialogue channels, Redonnet insisted the EU would still take steps to curb Chinese exports.
"We need to look at what the Chinese do. It is more than likely that we'll have unilateral protection measures adopted at the European Union level. So we'll be taking various measures in parallel," he said.
Structural Concerns
Redonnet described the growing trade deficit as a structural, not cyclical, issue.
"There is nothing cyclical in this," he told MEPs, adding that the deficit was "the result of structural factors … the result of a Chinese economic model that prioritises production over consumption."
He characterized Beijing's approach as "a form of industrial dominance."
Source
EUobserverWestern
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