Eurometal warns 300,000 manufacturing jobs in the EU will be lost in the rest of 2026 unless Brussels limits the growing influence of Chinese component makers in European supply chains.
The industry group links the threat to an expanding flow of Chinese parts, at a moment when the country enjoys a record €1bn-a-day trade surplus with the bloc. Eurometal will press decision-makers in Brussels this week and stage a protest carrying 10 symbolic coffins around the European Commission headquarters, each marked with phrases such as “EU competitiveness”, “industrial jobs” and “European factories”.
Eurometal president Alexander Julius said the shift is deliberate. “China has made no secret of what it is doing. It is in their five-year plan,” he said, adding that Beijing aims to move from raw materials into finished goods and to secure key positions inside supply chains. He urged Brussels to focus on the impact of Chinese exports at the component level, including metals and chemicals used in 90% of manufacturing.
The European Commission has already taken targeted measures, imposing tariffs on some Chinese electric vehicles in 2024 and raising tariffs on foreign steel in June. Trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič has described the EU’s €360bn (£310bn) annual import/export imbalance with China as “not sustainable”. Brussels and Beijing have agreed a three-month dialogue, due to end in October, intended to stave off a wider trade showdown.
Eurometal says European producers also face higher costs from steel tariffs and carbon charges that do not apply to many Chinese-made components, and that the yuan’s undervaluation compounds the competitive gap. The group warned that firms under pressure from shareholders will continue to source where it is cheapest, even if that means moving production abroad.
The warning arrives amid broader alarm at job losses across the bloc. A European Commission analysis in June flagged potential job reductions exceeding 1m from high energy costs and global competition, and included the 100,000 cuts Volkswagen confirmed last week. Eurometal says the immediate risk is a decline in production, investment and industrial knowhow that will weaken Europe’s long-term economic resilience.
