European leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday, with migration on a two-day agenda crowded by another priority: keeping Chinese goods out. The summit will weigh future trade ties with China. Its surging exports of cars and other manufactured goods, the article says, are “threatening to harm local industry and cause mass layoffs across Europe.” Migration sits alongside Ukraine, the Middle East, defence, the EU’s long-term budget and enlargement. Trade comes first.
The figures behind the urgency are stark. The EU’s goods deficit with China reached €360 billion ($402 billion) last year, then hit €200 billion in the first six months of 2026. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the deficit “unsustainable” and pledged to use every possible means to reduce it. China’s exports jumped 36.3% in September from a year earlier, its customs agency said Wednesday.
Borders for Goods, Borders for People
The Commission has shifted its focus, the article says, from improving European companies’ access to Chinese markets to limiting how much China sells into the bloc. Trade deficits span machinery, textiles, basic metals, chemicals and cars. A Franco-German paper calls for measures on chemicals and PET plastic, limits on reliance on single sources for critical supplies, and the power to “strike back quickly against countries that harm the bloc.” The Commission is likely to propose the first such measure in December.
The trade response is fast and united. Other cross-border questions get a different treatment from the same capitals. Here, leaders speak of an emergency and “every possible means.” Germany, once a vocal critic of EU plans to impose tariffs on China-built electric vehicles just two years ago, has now joined France’s protectionist stance. Sander Tordoir, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform, called the shift “significant.” He said the two most important member states “clearly see eye to eye on how to deal with the second China shock.”
Politics at Home
The summit may offer “a welcome break from domestic troubles,” the article says. French President Emmanuel Macron faces student protests and sharp bond losses over a budget deadlock. He lost his parliamentary majority in 2024, two years ago, and must step aside next year when his term ends. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is struggling to get his coalition on track after regional vote defeats. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez trails in polls ahead of a snap election on November 29, about six weeks away; the centre- and far-right are positioned to win enough votes to form a government.
Mainstream politicians across Europe face pressure from far-right and nationalist parties. The article links their rise to many voters’ sense that the economy isn’t generating enough wealth to pay for the public services they expect. In Poland, it reports, “weariness towards refugees and fears of war in Ukraine spilling across the border have pushed voters towards far-right parties.” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni enter the summit from positions of relative political strength. Rising inflation and energy costs, though, are hampering Italy.
Jobs on the Line
Cheap Chinese exports and higher US tariffs are straining the region’s industrial base. The article cites 100,000 job losses at Germany’s Volkswagen. EU leaders will consider whether a preliminary deal with Beijing to stem hybrid car imports is a good enough first step. Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic called it a “very good result,” but cautioned that it was only a first step. A senior Commission official said dialogue alone was unlikely to finish the job. Sefcovic met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Beijing on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026.
The article offers no reporting on what the summit will decide about migration or on the people crossing Europe’s borders. The agenda names the topic. Coverage stops there.