European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen China accused of distorting trade and restrict access to European companies two weeks before the summit between major economic powers.
“If our partnership is moving forward, we need a real rebalancing: less market distortion, reduced overdoses from China, fair access to European businesses.”
Beijing has put export controls on rare earth magnets, making EU industry difficult to hit increasingly unbalanced trading relations. The move dashed signs of thawing between the EU and China earlier this year due to tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The 27-member group has alleged tariffs on electric vehicles on Chinese producers benefited from unfair subsidies. The EU also excludes companies from medical equipment public contracts earlier in 2025, triggering Beijing’s TAT retaliation against Tits.
“China made early investments in many of the future technologies,” Von der Leyen said. “But then, it began flooding the global market with cheap subsidized commodities to eliminate competitors.”
“From solar panels to mineral processing, the entire Western industry has been closed – giving China the dominance of the country,” the committee chairman said.
Coupled with progress on long-term trade and economic issues, tensions have intensified ahead of the planned summit between Brussels and Beijing in the second half of July. The Chinese government canceled part of the summit for two days.
“Made in China has a 20% automatic price advantage in public bidding,” Von der Leyen said. “It’s simply not fair. The system has been explicitly manipulated.”
