European industries and workers are facing growing pressure from unfair trade practices, global overcapacity and state-driven distortions of competition. Combined with high energy costs, these challenges threaten Europe's industrial base, investment and quality jobs.

The scale of the challenge is clear. In 2025, the EU's trade deficit in goods with China reached approximately €359.8 billion – almost €1 billion every day. This growing imbalance highlights the urgent need to defend European production against unfair competition.

In their joint statement, 44 European organisations, representing industries and workers across a wide range of sectors, call on EU Member States to support three urgent actions:

  • Strengthen the EU's trade defence capacity. The European Commission must allocate more staff and expertise to its trade defence services to speed up investigations and respond more effectively to unfair trade practices. Faster procedures would also help smaller companies defend themselves.
  • Make better use of existing trade defence measures. The EU must act swiftly against unfairly priced and subsidised imports, close loopholes used to circumvent trade measures, and better reflect environmental and social costs in the calculation of dumping margins and duties. Measures must protect entire industrial value chains, while avoiding harmful consequences for close EU trading partners.
  • Develop new tools to tackle unfair global competition. The EU needs targeted measures to address state-driven distortions and the growing flow of underpriced products into the European market, in line with its international obligations.

For industriAll Europe, effective trade defence is essential to safeguarding Europe's industrial capacity, protecting quality jobs and securing investment in the industries of the future.

Trade defence is not about closing Europe's markets. It is about ensuring fair competition and preventing unfair practices from undermining European production and employment.

Europe cannot build a strong industrial future without defending its industries and workers against unfair competition. The EU and its Member States must act now to ensure that European industry can compete on fair terms.

Read the full joint statement here

Position paper: Sustainable trade