EU faces 300,000 factory job cuts as China ‘colonises’ supply chains, industry warns

Protest using 10 coffins to symbolise struggling manufacturing industry to take place in Brussels

Job losses in EU manufacturing will rapidly increase unless Brussels stops the colonisation" of industry by Chinese component manufacturers, a leading industry trade body has warned.

Eurometal predicts 300,000 job losses in manufacturing in the rest of 2026 because of expanding competition from China, which is now enjoying a record 1bn-a-day trade surplus with the bloc.