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EU's top trade envoy faces Beijing showdown after China rejects voluntary curbs on hybrid car exports

From the Newshound archive · first published 8 October 2026.

European Commission trade chief Maroš Šefčovič arrived in Beijing on Thursday for a two-day confrontation with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, after China rejected EU requests for voluntary limits on hybrid car exports. The EU faces a trade deficit with China exceeding 360 billion euros a year — more than $1 billion every single day — with Brussels warning October is the deadline for meaningful results.

This week the European Parliament passed a resolution by 454 votes to 86 calling for mutual economic terms and a calibrated EU response should China refuse to open its markets.

A surge of subsidised Chinese exports was redirected toward Europe following US tariff hikes, piling pressure on industries across the 27-nation bloc from steel to car manufacturing.

Measures under consideration reportedly span targeted tariffs to a so-called 'trade bazooka' — a sweeping retaliatory instrument that would mark a dramatic hardening of EU trade policy toward China.

MoreFinancial TimesŠefčovič goes to Beijing with a final plea to avoid an EU-China trade warFinancial TimesEU’s top trade envoy in China for tense talks over carsThe IndependentEU sends envoy to Beijing as rising exports from China raise economic anxietyFinancial TimesChina slaps down EU request for voluntary curbs on hybrid car exports - Financial TimesReutersChina rejects EU request for voluntary hybrid car export curbs, FT reportsLive MintChina rejects EU request for voluntary curbs on hybrid car exports as trade talks begin in Beijing: What it means
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