EU to develop new tools to tackle China export flood

BRUSSELS, Belgium, June 19: EU leaders agreed during talks Thursday that the bloc must develop beefed-up trade defences to curb a surge of Chinese exports deemed an existential threat to European industry by Brussels -- while simultaneously seeking "constructive dialogue" with Beijing.

There is a growing consensus in the European Union that it is too dependent on China, and Brussels fears this makes it vulnerable to potential coercion and supply shocks.

The 27-nation bloc's trade deficit in goods hit around 360 billion euros ($413 billion) last year, meaning Chinese exports sharply exceeded the EU's.

During a two-hour summit dinner in Brussels, leaders chewed over how the EU could address the imbalance, and whether the bloc needed to boost its arsenal.

After talks ended early on Friday, an EU official said the leaders tasked the commission with continuing to engage "in a constructive dialogue with our main economic partners" but did not directly say China.

They also asked the executive "to develop and eventually complement the toolbox in the area of trade defence" and to make sure the EU has "all the instruments it needs to defend its interests and derisk", the official said.�"AFP