Germany and France Push for EU Measures Against China's Unfair Trade Practices

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron have jointly proposed a series of measures to strengthen the European Union's ability to defend against unfair trade practices, particularly from China. Key proposals include creating an express mechanism for disconnecting unfair trade partners from the EU market, establishing a new diversification instrument to reduce dependence on certain suppliers, and implementing a procedure for temporarily excluding countries from the single market. These initiatives come amidst record trade deficits with China and growing concerns about market-distorting practices and geopolitical dependencies.