Macron says China’s industrial rise poses direct threat to Europe

(MENAFN) French President Emmanuel Macron has issued a stark warning that China’s accelerating industrial dominance is putting Europe’s economic structure at risk, hinting that the EU may introduce tariffs on Chinese imports unless Beijing works to narrow the bloc’s ballooning trade gap.

Speaking in an interview after his state visit to China, he highlighted that Europe’s trade deficit with Beijing has reached what he described as an intolerable scale, with China’s surplus surpassing €300 billion last year, as stated by reports.

“I try to explain to the Chinese that their trade surplus is not sustainable because they are killing their own customers, notably by hardly importing anything from us anymore,” he said.

According to the interview, Macron told Chinese officials that the EU would be compelled to intervene if this imbalance persists.

“I told them that if they did not react, we Europeans would be forced, in the very next months, to take strong measures and to de-cooperate, as the United States has done, for example through tariffs on Chinese goods,” he said, adding that he discussed the issue with the European Commission president.

Macron stressed that the core of Europe’s manufacturing strength is under direct pressure, stating: “China is crashing into the heart of the European industrial and innovation model, historically built on machine tools and the automobile.”

He also pointed out that US policies under President Donald Trump — marked by heightened protectionism — have further intensified Europe’s economic vulnerability by pushing more Chinese exports toward the European market. This dynamic, he argued, has left the EU “caught between the two,” a situation he described as existential for the continent’s industries.

While acknowledging the urgency, Macron noted that crafting a unified EU stance remains challenging, indicating that Germany “is not yet fully aligned with our position,” though it recognizes the worsening situation.

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