China’s textile exports into the EU have surged as manufacturers hit by heavy US tariffs redirect goods to Europe, the European textile industry body has said.
EU imports of Chinese clothing and textiles increased by 20 per cent in value and volume in the first half of 2025, compared with last year, according to Euratex data shared with the Financial Times. The majority of the value increase came from an approximately €2bn rise in cheap clothing imports.
“We are talking about this tariff war and we see that China is exporting less to the USA,’’ said Mario Jorge Machado, president of Euratex. ‘‘We see a significant amount of it exported to Europe but [it] also connects with a decrease in price in the articles we are importing.”