EU-China trade tensions collide with air-conditioner boom

Europe wants to narrow its record trade deficit with China by October, but the bloc’s worst-ever heat wave is driving unprecedented demand for imports of Chinese-made air conditioners, a telling tale illustrating how hard it will be for Brussels to address the trade imbalance.

The European Union and China released a rare joint statement on Monday aimed at balancing trade between the two economies and addressing market access issues.

Disputes over trade imbalances, export controls and intellectual property must deliver “tangible results” by October, European trade chief Maros Sefcovic told reporters after meeting with China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. The two sides agreed to set up a bilateral working group to monitor trade flows, with “reassurance” from Beijing that existing export controls on rare earths and permanent magnets will not disrupt EU supply chains.

“Not everything will be solved, not everything will be fixed, but we think that between now and October, our teams have sufficient time to deliver the tangible results,” Sefcovic said. Chinese exports to the EU “keep rising, while our market share in China keeps shrinking,” he said, calling the trend “not sustainable.”

Beijing has made it clear that it would not hesitate to retaliate against any new trade curbs designed to tackle the overcapacity issue.

But the timing is awkward. The pair met in Brussels just as an historic heat wave has Europeans rushing to buy air conditioners — mostly made in China. Europe has long resisted air conditioning as noisy, an eyesore on architectural facades and unnecessary, as brutal summer heat has been relatively short-lived. It also fears widespread adoption of the energy-hungry technology risks undermining the fight against climate change.

The bloc’s goods deficit with China grew 15% to €360 billion ($410 billion) last year, with all 27 member states experiencing a shortfall, and expanded to €98 billion in the first quarter, the highest since 2022. Electrical equipment and machines are among the most imported goods.

“The sense of urgency over [China’s] threat to European industry appears to have reached a tipping point,” said Gabriel Wildau, managing director at consultancy Teneo, while China’s leadership has shown “little appetite for placating Europe.”

“There is no sign of policy action forceful enough to materially reduce the trade surplus with Europe,” Wildau noted.

Midea Group reportedly said orders for its PortaSplit unit — a portable split system engineered for Western Europe’s fragmented building rules — have topped 200,000 this year as of Monday, double 2025’s pace.

A website built by German software developer Adrian Kübel to track real-time…