The European Commission has warned that almost a quarter of the European Union’s imports are growing at a pace it calls concerning, with Chinese products the principal cause.
Denis Redonnet, the Commission’s chief trade enforcement officer, made the assessment in testimony to the European Parliament’s trade committee on 1 October. Imports in machinery, textiles, base metals, and chemicals have been expanding at a persistently abnormal rate, he said.
“Looking at the import performance results, we see potentially worrying trends for almost a quarter of all EU imports at this point in time, and this is a matter of serious concern,” Redonnet told lawmakers. The main driver, he added, “is China and Chinese products.”
The scale of the flow is large. EU imports totaled €2.53 trillion in 2025, about $2.8 trillion. Of that, €571 billion — roughly $642 billion — came from China. While Chinese shipments into the bloc have been rising, EU exports to China have been falling at nearly the same pace. The goods trade deficit with China reached €360 billion in 2025, about $405 billion.
The Commission has stepped up talks with Beijing on how to narrow that gap. Redonnet said the EU expects to reach an agreement this month on some form of Chinese export-control measures. Any such deal would amount to voluntary restraint on certain shipments, but the outcome of the talks is still uncertain. Brussels has framed the broader goal as turning the relationship into “managed competition.”
Industry pressure for protection has risen with the import surge. The Commission opened 32 trade-defense investigations in 2025, the second-highest annual total on record after 33 cases in 2024. The historical average was about 12 cases a year, so the past two years mark a sharp break. More than a third of the new investigations were in chemicals. The pace has not eased: Redonnet said 27 new cases have already been opened in 2026.
The EU has long argued that China’s excess industrial capacity is undercutting European producers. Countervailing duties are already in place on Chinese electric vehicles. The same pattern is showing up in steel, chemicals, and other sectors, and European manufacturers are pressing for wider safeguards.
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