“EU, not afraid of trade war with China” - Report, should adopt a bolder approach
The European Union should not avoid a trade war with China if it wants to avoid deindustrialization, according to a report published on Monday by the bloc's foreign policy think tank, the European Union Institute for Security Studies.
The report argues that a showdown with Beijing is likely inevitable and urges Brussels to make it easier to deploy its most powerful trade defense weapon, the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI).
The analysis comes after a year in which China continued to weaponize Europe's dependence on rare metals and chips through export controls, while its trade surplus with the bloc grew to 359.3 billion euros.
"The EU should adopt an 'escalation-to-de-escalation' approach similar to those used by the US and China. It should be able to use its strongest tool – the Anti-Coercion Instrument – to protect core interests," the report says.
According to the authors, the EU should not fear retaliation from Beijing, arguing that the cost would still be lower than doing nothing.
While the ACI is a powerful weapon against economic coercion, the EU refrained from using it in 2025.
Often referred to as the bloc's "trade bazooka," this tool allows Brussels to impose measures such as export controls, restrictions on licenses and intellectual property rights, or restrictions on access to public procurement when a country outside the EU exerts economic pressure. But the process of activating it is slow and politically fragile, and can easily be blocked by member states.
The report calls for reforms that would allow the European Commission to apply the tool temporarily during the mandatory four-month investigation phase. It also suggests overturning the current voting system so that a qualified majority would be required to block the use of the ACI, rather than to approve it.
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