BIG: France and Germany sent a joint letter to von der Leyen demanding a new EU "kill switch" that could immediately cut a country off the single market over unfair trade practices — clearly aimed at China, though unnamed.

The tool would activate within days, not years, and could range from blocking a single product to excluding an entire country.

Germany's sign-on is the big shift: it went from protecting its China trade to co-authoring the toughest EU trade proposal yet.

The EU's goods deficit with China hit €360 billion last year.

Separately, the UK is reviewing but has not yet imposed tariffs on Chinese EVs, despite EU pressure to align.