China, EU reach agreement to reduce Chinese hybrid vehicle imports
The EU and China reached a deal on Friday to reduce China's shipments of hybrid vehicles to Europe by half, cutting Chinese imports by millions of cars over four years according to the EU's trade commissioner, who called it "only a first step." The agreement leaves untouched the vast majority of Brussels' $1 billion-a-day trade deficit with Beijing. Chinese brands accounted for one in four European hybrid sales in August.
Why it matters: The deal shows EU-China trade negotiations producing a narrow concession on one product category while the structural drivers of the bilateral trade deficit remain unaddressed.