EU mulls Chinese trade agreement

The European Union is considering making the lowering of trade defences to Chinese imports conditional on China sharply reducing the amount of steel it exports to Europe, according to an EU official involved in the talks.

A draft document from the European Commission seen by Reuters also suggests China’s market economic status be viewed in the context of strengthening EU defences “against unfair trade practices” in the steel sector.

The commission, the EU executive, has to decide by December whether to grant China market economy status, a status that would limit the EU’s power to impose duties on excessively cheap Chinese imports.