France and Germany plan China trade roadmap by September

France and Germany want to produce a joint roadmap by September to address what they describe as unfair Chinese trade practices, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

The European Union is debating how to respond to a growing volume of Chinese exports. Critics say those exports are supported by large state subsidies and by an allegedly undervalued currency that makes Chinese products cheaper.

The bloc has struggled to settle on a common position. France has long pushed for a tougher approach, while Germany has traditionally been more cautious because its businesses are more heavily invested in China.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Merz near Cologne after meetings between the French and German governments, Macron said Europe was being shaken by China's trade practices. He said Paris and Berlin wanted a Franco-German roadmap on the issue by September and that their economy, finance and foreign ministers had been asked to prepare it.

Macron said France and Germany would push strongly to reinforce the mandate given to the European Commission so it could move faster on market investigations and on tools to protect European industries. He said the sectors affected included chemicals, machine tools, the automotive industry and others.

Merz said the European Union's trade deficit with China had risen sharply in recent years. He said the imbalance had to be addressed because it came at the expense of European industry.

The 27-country EU's goods trade deficit with China reached about 360 billion euros in 2025, meaning the bloc imported far more from China than it exported there.

On allegations that China's yuan is undervalued, Macron called for dialogue with Beijing on exchange rates and the opening of financial markets. Merz said that if the Chinese currency was correctly valued, there was no reason not to allow it to be freely convertible for trading purposes.