EU and China urged to strike grand bargain to prevent trade war

The European Union and China must negotiate a comprehensive agreement to avert a trade war, according to a recent opinion piece. High-level meetings between European and Chinese officials indicate a mutual desire to avoid zero-sum confrontation. To de-escalate, Brussels and Beijing should exercise strategic patience, acknowledge a new economic reality through a grand bargain, and focus on investment as a rebalancing tool. The EU's goods trade deficit with China exceeds €300 billion ($342.76 billion), a figure that has become a political flashpoint. However, this imbalance stems from decades of global supply chain shifts, division of labor, and European consumer demand, not easily reversed by tariffs. Unlike US-China relations, the EU and China do not view each other as existential security threats.