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EU trade deficit with China tops €1bn a day in July
A study by Merics says the EU imported three times more from China than it exported back, with the deficit at €36.5bn in July and €234bn for January to July.
China and the EU are seeking to avert a trade war as the EU trade imbalance with China remains sharply tilted toward imports, according to new customs data analyzed by the Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics).
The study found the EU’s trade deficit with China ran at more than €1bn per day in July, totaling €36.5bn, and rising from €32.2bn in July 2025. It also projects the overall deficit at €234bn for January through July, about €21bn higher than in the same period of 2025.
Merics said the imbalance has moved beyond a simple goods gap, arguing that China is selling more to Europe while buying less from the bloc. The analysis calculated that for every €1 of goods the EU exported to China in July, it imported €3.10, with the deficit equivalent to about €1.18bn a day.
As negotiations continue ahead of planned EU-China talks in October, sources in Brussels cited potential measures under consideration, including quotas on hybrid vehicles and certain types of chemicals imported from China. The article links the issue to the rise in non plug-in hybrid imports, saying sales grew from just under 4,000 vehicles sold in October 2024 to 50,000 in July 2026, after extra tariffs on Chinese EVs in 2024 did not cover hybrid electric cars.