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[Opinion] Europe's Patience With China's Factory Glut Runs Out (theeuropeanpost.eu)
submitted 1 day ago by tardigrade@scribe.disroot.org to c/europe@feddit.org
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For three years Europe has repeated the same phrase about China, de-risking, not decoupling, and for three years it has struggled to show what the phrase means in practice. In mid-2026 that is starting to change.

At the European Council on 19 June, heads of state handed the Commission a clear political mandate to strengthen the bloc’s defences against Chinese industrial overcapacity and other forms of what Brussels calls unfair competition. The debate ran for more than two hours, which in European summitry signals a genuine argument rather than a rubber stamp.

The numbers behind the frustration are stark. The EU’s trade deficit with China has swollen to roughly 360 billion euros a year, close to a billion euros every day. Behind that figure sits a pattern European manufacturers know well: heavily subsidised Chinese capacity in electric vehicles, solar panels, batteries and now chemicals, produced far in excess of Chinese demand and pushed onto world markets at prices domestic rivals cannot match.

...

Yet the [European] Commission is careful to keep the door open. De-risking was always meant to reduce exposure, not to sever a relationship worth hundreds of billions in two-way trade.

...

Beijing, for its part, reads every tariff as provocation and has warned of retaliation against European farm goods, spirits and luxury exports.

...

What has shifted in 2026 is not the slogan but the resolve behind it. Europe has stopped debating whether Chinese overcapacity is a problem and started arguing about how forcefully to answer it. For a bloc that prizes consensus and caution, that is a meaningful change of gear.

...

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[-] tardigrade@scribe.disroot.org 6 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

China has been circumventing European safety and technical standards in all sectors, including in consumer sectors (Temu, Shein, AliExpress, ...).

Ethical standards are even worse, and China is blocking any attempts for transparent supply chain. China doesn't appear to be even willing to play by the rules.

One recent example comes from Italy: Italian machine tool sector wants tougher EU trade rules on China, demands same technical and safety standards required of European manufacturers

[-] DupaCycki@lemmy.world -4 points 19 hours ago

Just like I replied to you in a different thread... Temu, Shein, and AliExpress do not sell industrial machinery.

The link you provided is an article about what a European corporate lobby says and wants. Lobbies are not trustworthy or reliable sources of information.

Any sources for any of the other claims made? How is China circumventing the safety standards?

[-] tardigrade@scribe.disroot.org 0 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

Any sources for any of the other claims made? How is China circumventing the safety standards?

There is ample evidence for this, some of the reports have been even posted here on Lemmy.

[-] DupaCycki@lemmy.world -1 points 7 hours ago

Apparently not ample enough to post it lol

[-] tardigrade@scribe.disroot.org 0 points 6 hours ago

Demanding articles that can easily be found across the web in high numbers doesn't add to the debate culture here.

These are some I found found for you in less than a minute:

June 2023: Systemic failures in product compliance on TEMU and Shein

August 2024: Shein and Temu products found to contain high levels of toxic chemicals

June 2025: EU commissioner shocked by dangers of some goods sold by Shein and Temu

Here is a report for several unsafe and poisonous products sold on Temu, Shein, AliExpress: https://www.beuc.eu/sites/default/files/publications/BEUC-X-2025-007_Tests_of_Temu_Products_by_Consumer_Groups.pdf

Feel free to search more for yourself.

[-] DupaCycki@lemmy.world 0 points 5 hours ago

Making baseless claims without providing any sources adds nothing to the debate. If they're so easy to find - all the more reason to spend 10 seconds linking them. How is anyone supposed to know which ones you're referring to?

The 'sources' you just linked are completely unrelated to the original article. The article is about Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 of the European Parliament. Even though it doesn't name it directly, you can find nearly identical articles that do. It's just a terrible article overall.

Regulation 2023/1230 covers CNC machine tools and software for them. Temu, Shein, and AliExpress have absolutely nothing to do with that, because none of them produces or sells CNC machinery or software.

As you can read from the regulation itself, and from various coverages of it, all companies' products and services are required to meet the exact same standards. Whether you produce in the EU or import from China (or wherever else) - same rules apply.

Chinese exporters failing to update technical documentation or conduct third-party testing may face customs delays, market entry bans, and recall risks.

https://www.ynypm.com/news/policy-regulation/rade-regulations/EU-s-Revised-Machinery-Regulation--Key-Impacts-and-Industry-Response.html

Just because Temu, Shein, or AliExpress sometimes fail to meet EU standards doesn't mean all Chinese companies always fail to do so. This is terrible logic. If you can't provide proof that violations are happening - don't claim so. Or highlight that it's just your suspicion. Otherwise you're spreading misinformation.

It should also be noted that CNC machinery is held to considerably higher standards, since those machines are used by huge factories employing many workers. Using non-compliant devices would also break workers protection laws, since they'd be working in unsafe conditions.

Additional sources:

this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2026
29 points (89.2% liked)

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