Five EU nations, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, & Lithuania, have formally urged the European Commission to strengthen trade defenses against cheap imports, primarily from China. The call comes ahead of critical EU-China trade debates on May 29, 2026. The EU's trade deficit with China hit €360 billion last year. The European Parliament recently approved new steel protections, cutting duty-free quotas by forty-seven percent & doubling tariffs on excess imports to fifty percent.