EU weighs import curbs on Chinese chemicals as talks widen beyond cars

No new sector curbs had been announced as of October 23, the Epoch Times reported.

On October 15, an EU diplomat told EUobserver that the European Commission had shown openness to proposing a safeguard. A safeguard is an emergency import brake that can cover whole sectors, such as chemicals and machinery. The diplomat said member states gave broad support.

Reuters reported on September 10, citing sources, that France, Italy and Germany planned to ask for EU safeguard quotas on PET, epoxy resin and glass fibres.

The EU has used a safeguard before, on steel. EUobserver notes that a safeguard limits imports from all origins, not China alone, and does not require proof of dumping or subsidy.

In 2025 the EU imported €34.1 billion of organic chemicals from China, and €106.5 billion of machinery and mechanical equipment, according to Eurostat data cited by the Epoch Times. The EU's goods deficit with China was about €360 billion that year, according to the East Asia Forum.

Widening the dispute would take it beyond the car fight that cooled after the hybrid-volume understanding, toward the broader market-access tool Berlin and Paris have pushed since early October. China has repeatedly warned it will retaliate against EU trade restrictions, and on October 16 it called the bloc's pressure campaign unlikely to succeed. Sector curbs would raise the odds of tit-for-tat measures hitting European exporters. That risk lands on a eurozone already strained by budget disputes and an energy affordability warning, leaving less room to absorb a deeper trade confrontation. Pressure could then spread into broader growth expectations and into US-listed multinationals with exposure to China and Europe.