Port of Hamburg
According to Eurostat, the EU posted a surplus of €6.7 billion in the first quarter, but sharp changes in global markets reversed that trend.
The main causes of the EU’s trade deficit were rising energy prices, a chronic imbalance with China, and a decline in exports to the U.S., Euractiv reports.
The publication notes that the EU’s trade deficit in the energy sector rose from €71.3 billion to €101.1 billion. The main trigger was a spike in oil and gas prices amid the escalating conflict between the U.S./Israel and Iran. Fuel imports from the U.S. alone jumped from €19.8 billion to €29.0 billion.
The sharp rise in energy prices led to a €63.4 billion increase in total EU imports, which significantly exceeded the €34.9 billion growth in exports, driven mainly by increased sales of chemical products and foodstuffs.
The EU’s trade deficit with China increased to €103.3 billion. In trade with Beijing—the world’s second-largest economy and the bloc’s second-largest trading partner after the United States—the EU recorded a particularly large deficit in the segment of automobiles, machinery, and other industrial goods, which accounts for the bulk of Chinese imports.
European exports to the U.S. market fell by €43.7 billion compared to the peak levels of the first quarter of 2025, when the global trade surplus peaked at €51 billion.
Attempts by European companies to avoid Donald Trump’s massive tariffs by “preemptively” increasing exports to the U.S. also contributed to the trade imbalance. EU exports to the U.S. fell by €43.7 billion compared to the first quarter of 2025.
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