The EU's automotive trade balance with China went from a surplus of 23 billion euros in 2019 to a deficit of 6 billion euros today.

Omissions

• The specific figures of €23 billion (2019 surplus) and €6 billion (current deficit) could not be confirmed in any accessible source; only the general direction of the reversal is documented.
• ACEA's fact sheet on EU-China vehicle trade shows that in 2025 the EU exported 161,514 new vehicles to China (€8.5 billion) and imported 1,105,806 new vehicles from China, which is consistent with a vehicle-trade deficit, but the import value (and thus the exact balance) is not shown in the retrieved snippet.
• No primary official source (Eurostat/EC trade statistics) with the exact automotive-sector balance figures for 2019 and the latest year was retrieved before the search limit was reached.
• The claim cites no source, and the available secondary coverage (journalauto.com, upply market insights) confirms the reversal but does not reproduce the €23 billion/€6 billion magnitudes.

Sources

• PrimaryEurostat Statistics Explained — EU trade with China: latest developmentsThe EU trade deficit in goods with China worsened from €65 billion in Q1 2024 to €98 billion in Q1 2026 (overall goods trade, not automotive-specific).
• SecondaryACEA — Fact sheet: EU-China vehicle trade161,514 new vehicles were exported from the EU to China in 2025, valuing €8.5 billion; 1,105,806 new vehicles were imported into the EU from China.
• SecondaryJournal Auto — La balance commerciale automobile européenne penche désormais en faveur de la ChineLes ventes vers la Chine ont été divisées par plus de deux depuis 2022, passant de 30 milliards à 13,6 milliards d'euros, tandis que les [importations]... — the European automotive trade balance now tips in favour of China.
• SecondaryUpply Market Insights — The evolution of EU-China trade in the automotive sectorBetween 2015 and 2024, the trade balance in the automotive sector between China and the EU27 has therefore been reversed.