Chinese industrial overcapacities pose a structural threat to Europe’s industrial competitiveness, particularly in strategically important sectors such as clean tech, machinery, and chemicals. With global trade tensions escalating and the risk of Chinese exports being redirected from the US to Europe, concerns are mounting over a potential surge in underpriced imports that could further erode the EU’s manufacturing base. However, the threat is concentrated in a few sectors where Chinese overcapacity directly challenges key areas of EU industrial competitiveness. This policy brief argues that the EU does not need new instruments to respond, but rather a more strategic, sector-specific, and timely application of its existing trade defence tools.