EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič Talks International Trade

Summary

Podcast Summary: Bloomberg Talks

Episode: EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič Talks International Trade
Date: December 15, 2025
Host: Bloomberg
Guest: Maroš Šefčovič, European Union Trade Commissioner

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Overview

This episode features an in-depth conversation with EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, delving into the current state of global trade relations involving the European Union. Key topics include US-EU trade negotiations—particularly steel and aluminum tariffs—relations and supply chain issues with China, the EU’s approach to rare earth mineral licensing, the persistent trade deficit with China, and the pending EU-MERCOSUR trade agreement. Šefčovič offers candid assessments of ongoing challenges and negotiations, outlining both successes and sticking points in Europe’s international trade agenda.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. US-EU Steel and Aluminum Tariffs

• Background: The two sides are in ongoing talks regarding longstanding tariffs on steel and aluminum.
• Status: No concrete progress yet, but frequent communication is ongoing.
• Šefčovič:
  • “We are not each other's problem… What unites us is that we really need to take care of all the capacities which are destroying, you know, the steel production in US but also in the EU.” (00:58)
  • EU has adopted safeguards against third-country steel imports, mirroring US measures.
  • Proposal to build a “ring of friends” with mutual free trade in certain goods.
  • Machinery exports are a sticking point: “If America wants to reindustrialize, they need machines. We produce the machines. We are ready to send them the machines.” (01:58)
• Interviewer: The US is linking progress on steel to digital industry regulations, which are seen as non-tariff barriers.

2. Regulation, Digital Industry, and Non-Tariff Barriers

• US Position: Wants the EU to relax regulations that ostensibly target US tech firms.
• Šefčovič:
  • Firm on upholding EU's legislative process and tax sovereignty.
  • “Our regulation is adopted democratically… we are of course going to protect our tax sovereignty.” (03:13)
  • Assures the US that investigations are not aimed exclusively at American companies.
  • Cites complaints from US companies operating in the EU as often prompting regulatory action.
  • Suggests willingness to use settlements rather than fines, when appropriate.

3. Critical Minerals and EU-China Relations

• Rare Earth Minerals:
  • EU is seeking general licenses from China similar to those obtained by the US, to enable smoother access to rare earths.
  • “We are getting initial reports from our industry that they are getting these general licenses, but we need… more granular information.” (04:42)
  • Dialogue with Chinese officials proves healthy, but process remains somewhat opaque.
• Supply Chain Managed Risks:
  • Established a “hotline” with China for priority cases, given frequent industry complaints about access to permanent magnets, legacy chips, etc.
  • Šefčovič urges industry to prepare for continued instability:
    • “You have to be prepared to pay security premium, we have to stockpile, we have to diversify because we learned the hard way how the dependencies are costly.” (06:40)

4. EU Trade Deficit with China

• The Problem:
  • The trade deficit is €300 billion—“way too high,” says Šefčovič, and unsustainable.
  • “We will fight tooth and nail for European jobs and European companies.” (07:32)
• EU Measures:
  • Established import surveillance task force for real-time monitoring (biweekly) of imports.
  • Prioritizes “fair treatment” of European companies in China, genuine investment and job creation within the EU over forced tech transfers.
• Future Actions:
  • May resort to stronger anti-coercion mechanisms if softer measures don’t improve the situation.
  • “What would be very important… is that the tendency and I would say engagement with us to address these issues which we are raising.” (08:37)

5. EU-MERCOSUR Trade Deal

• Status:
  • The final agreement—after 25 years in the making—is at a critical juncture and not yet a done deal.
  • Šefčovič expresses optimism:
    • “To end this turbulent year… with the biggest free trade agreement ever signed, I think would be a positive conclusion.” (09:43)
• Key Points:
  • Would open South American markets to the EU and facilitate access to critical raw materials.
  • A net positive for both European exporters and agricultural/farming sectors after addressing concerns.
• If Not Signed Now:
  • Šefčovič remains hopeful:
    • “I would never accept such a good deal… is dead because it’s just simply too good for our citizens and too good for our businesses.” (10:57)

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On US-EU Steel Disputes:

  • “We are not each other's problem… What unites us is that we really need to take care of [global] overcapacities.” (00:58)

• On Tech Regulation:

  • “Our regulation is adopted democratically… We are of course going to protect our tax sovereignty.” (03:13)

• On De-risking Supply Chains:

  • “You have to be prepared to pay security premium, we have to stockpile, we have to diversify because we learned the hard way how the dependencies are costly.” (06:40)

• On the Trade Deficit with China:

  • “The deficit of 300 billion is way too high. We will fight tooth and nail for European jobs and European companies.” (07:32)

• On the Prospects of the MERCOSUR Deal:

  • “To end this turbulent year… with the biggest free trade agreement ever signed, I think would be a positive conclusion [for the EU].” (09:43)
  • “I would never accept such a good deal… is dead because it’s just simply too good for our citizens and too good for our businesses.” (10:57)

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Segment Timestamps

• [00:34] — Introduction of Maroš Šefčovič; start of US-EU steel and aluminum tariff discussion
• [02:46] — Digital industry regulation and US non-tariff barriers
• [04:29] — Rare earth minerals, EU-China licensing
• [05:43] — Progress on structure/governance of EU-China minerals access
• [07:05] — EU trade imbalance with China, task force monitoring
• [09:31] — MERCOSUR trade deal, prospects for signing
• [10:46] — Will MERCOSUR be “dead” if not signed soon?
• [11:11] — (End of main content)

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Tone and Final Thoughts

Šefčovič remains pragmatic but optimistic throughout, mixing diplomatic caution with a sense of urgency—especially regarding de-risking supply chains and enforcing fair trading practices. While acknowledging complexities and unfinished business, he underscores the EU’s commitment to protecting its industries, diversifying critical imports, and securing high-value trade agreements.

Transcript

[Narrator/Announcer]

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[Interviewer/Host]

Joined by Maro Sefkovich, who is the Trade Commissioner for the European Union. We have so much to talk about about the relationship with the United States, China, mercosur, this Latin American trade deal that's supposed to be signed this week and we'll see if we get to that. Commissioner, thank you so much for joining us here. I'd like to begin with the negotiations with the United States because I think a lot of people are not very clear on where we are, particularly on the negotiations for steel and aluminum, those 50% tariffs, when look at you, what progress has been made. Where are we right now?

[Maro Sefkovich]

I was very pleased with the outcome of the visit of my two principal counterparts, Secretary Latnick and Ambassador Greer. And I think we kind of reconfirm also in front of our industry because we had a meeting with CEOs that if it comes to steel and steel products, we are not each other problem because we export to each other really minimum amounts. But what unites us is that we really need to take care of all the capacities which are destroying, you know, the steel production in US but also in the eu. And I explain again that we adopted these very far reaching safeguards if it comes to the imports of steel from third countries to the eu, which are kind of very much reflecting the measures which US has undertaken several months ago. And therefore I suggested again, let's go back to the idea where we can kind of build this ring of France where we would trade on MFN on zero levels and we will have the same, let's say, measures to take on the global overcapacities. The, the, the situation as it stays right now is that I sent to Secretary Latin the list of the codes where we believe that we can definitely lower the tariffs. I understand there is some interest, especially from the, from the machinery mach sector, but we didn't proceed or haven't proceeded to the very concrete negotiations on this type. So we are talking on the level of teams. We are almost, I would say, in permanent contact with my counterparts. And I think this would be good for both sides because if America wants to reindustrialize, they need machines. We produce the machines. We are ready to send them the machines. But of course we need to find a solution on the derivatives.

[Interviewer/Host]

And when Secretary Lutnick was here, we caught up with him. He came on Bloomberg Television and he said that basically in order to make progress on steel and aluminum there needs to be movement on regulations for digital industry. So basically stuff that's outside of trade that the United States considers non trade barriers or non tariff barriers within, is that something that is on the table in terms of the negotiation? Could that be part of a framework? And is there any other avenue to get those tariffs down other than basically diminishing European tech regulation?

[Maro Sefkovich]

I think that our regulation is adopted democratically by, by us through very thorough legislative process and therefore we are of course going to, to protect our tax sovereignty. What I heard from Secretary Lightning and Ambassador Greer was that they wanted to be treated fairly. So we had a lot of discussions. Are we aiming only at the US companies? Clear answer is no. Just, just look at the companies which we are investigating or eventually finding. And are we kind of, you know, favoring the European in this case? Again no. And I was just providing my both counterparts with the fact that a lot of these investigations are actually prompted by the complaints which are coming from American companies which are also located here in the eu. They, they, they want to make sure that US companies are treated fairly in non discriminatory manner when we would use more the, I would say the possibility of the, of the settlement than fines. And all these things been also discussed with American partners also by my colleagues who are responsible for, for these sectors.

[Interviewer/Host]

And speaking of sort of rare earth minerals, this obviously has been thrust into the sort of the conversation very very in a very sort of obvious way now by the China. Are we getting closer, is Europe getting closer to getting a general license from China as the United States has?

[Maro Sefkovich]

Yes, I think that there I can, I can say that we are in very close contacts with Foreign Trade Minister Bankman Thou and also his team. So we are communicating on different levels. We had here the team from China specializing on export controls like a couple of weeks ago and I think we are getting initial reports from our industry that they are getting these general licenses, but we need to have a little bit more granular information to evaluate the whole process. But the, the fact that this idea was favorably received, that it seems that we are getting first general licenses and also that the Chinese side was receptive to our arguments that the processes it was set up in April required too much of a very intrusive information, too many photographs, too much detail about the supply chains and, and I think that the general licensing could be, could be one of the solutions how to address this issue.

[Interviewer/Host]

Does that mean that there's going to be a regime that governs this sort of issue between the EU and China or is it still just kind of being hopeful that things don't change?

[Maro Sefkovich]

Basically, I think that we kind of set up a kind of hotline with the Minister Wang Bento, for I would say, priority cases. So we are talking on our level quite regularly, but especially our teams are in permanent contacts because indeed we had moments over the last year were on my table. I saw that pile of the, of the, of the, of the letters from the worried CEOs of different new companies about the lack of permanent magnets, lack of legacy chips and so on and so forth was really growing quite rapidly and we needed to address it. So now I think that we set up the good channels on working level and political level to, to address this issue. But it's, it's a challenge. It brings additional instability into how the global supply chain has been working. And therefore my message to the European industry is you have to be prepared to pay security premium, we have to stockpile, we have to diversify because we learned the hard way how the dependencies are costly and therefore we included it into this new look, new communication on economic security because we just simply have to be much better in managing these emergencies.

[Interviewer/Host]

And one of the costs of imbalance and the sort of dependencies has been sort of evident in the trade balance with China and something that Emmanuel Macron has been very critical of, particularly in the last week or so after his visit to Beijing, saying that there should be a more aggressive approach to dealing with the oversupply that is going into Europe. Do you think there is appetite to deal more aggressively with this question from China? And do you think that the trade deficit with China specifically should be targeted by the EU and that is something that they should be looking to close?

[Maro Sefkovich]

Clearly, I would say the deficit of 300 billion is, is way too high. This was the topic which was raised by me with my counterparts from the moment one, when I first time came for the visit to China. And I think that there's also very clear message from our side that we will fight to the nail for European jobs and European, European companies and to have the deficit of 300 billion on permanent basis unsustainable. So we are, we are looking at different possibilities how to address this issue. Maybe one interesting information for you would be that we set up, such as import Surveillance task force which are monitoring I would say the inflows of the goods on biweekly basis. And this is what constitutes, I would say the basis for our next steps.

[Interviewer/Host]

And if 350 billion is too high, what for you is a more reasonable figure? What is the kind of goal since we can think talk concretely about kind of what we should be aiming for and is the anti coercion device, for example, something that is on the table in trying to achieve that goal?

[Maro Sefkovich]

I think that before we went to, I would say the, the most of, I would say to the strongest, strongest instrument in our arsenal. What would be very important for us would be to, to see the tension tendencies. Are the European companies in China treated fairly? Do we have access, you know, to some of the programs and public procurement? How the issue of the handling of overcapacity is happening and if the investments are done in the eu are the real investment. Are we talking about the IPR transfer? Are we talking about creating real value added in Europe? Are we talking about creation of the, of the real job? So what would be very important is, is that the tendency and I would say engagement with us to address this. I would say issues which are raising with our Chinese counterparts really already for quite some time.

[Interviewer/Host]

And it seemed going into sort of at the end of last week or in the middle of last week that MERCOSUR was more or less a done deal. There now appears to be some question about that. What do you think are the chances that MERCOSUR goes into effect that it is signed this weekend?

[Maro Sefkovich]

They're going to use every, every, every minute of this week to get it done. Because I think to end this turbulent year from the perspective of such a global trader like, like European Union with the biggest free trade agreement ever sign, I think would be a positive conclusion to, to this year. That's a, that's a big deal with lots of opportunities for not only European exporters but also in the field of critical raw minerals accessibility. And I'm sure that in the end it would be very positive deal also for our agri food industry which is paying very high tariffs if they try to export anything to you mercosur. So we really very diligently listen to our farmers community and I believe that we found the responses to every single concern they had. I just, I just hope that they will look at it carefully. We are ready to explain it. We are discussing it with our member states in the parliament and I hope that we land up on the positive.

[Interviewer/Host]

Note and just very quickly after 25 years of negotiation, which is how long this has sort of been going place. If we do not get it over the line in these next couple of weeks, can we consider this sort of initiative to be dead?

[Maro Sefkovich]

Let's think positive. And I would never accept such a good deal like we negotiated between Mercosur and European Union is dead because it's just simply too good for our citizens and too good for our businesses.

[Narrator/Announcer]

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