EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič told POLITICO in Dublin that EU and Chinese officials are already discussing the next sectors for trade talks. One part of his team is implementing an Oct. 9 understanding with China, he said, while another is talking to Chinese counterparts about where to focus next.
POLITICO describes the pact as a voluntary reduction in Chinese hybrid-vehicle exports to the EU by almost half, to 350,000 units in 2027. Šefčovič said the two sides could assess in January whether it had delivered all parts of their agreement. A videoconference with Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao is scheduled for January, and Šefčovič hopes for results at in-person talks in Brussels in March 2027.
At a separate Friday press conference, Šefčovič said the European Commission was assessing sectors for safeguard measures, which POLITICO described as a mix of quotas and tariffs. “Currently, what I think is the closest, is the plastic sector,” he said. His assessment of potential EU safeguards is separate from the discussion of which sectors to address in bilateral talks.
Šefčovič said his primary objective was to rebalance trade, citing an EU trade deficit with China of almost €197 billion in the first half of 2026. At the Dublin meeting, Poland’s undersecretary for economic development and technology, Michal Baranowski, said, “Let’s acknowledge that this is just a beginning,” Bloomberg reported.
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