France and Germany propose EU trade "kill switch" to rapidly cut off countries from single market

France and Germany are urging the European Commission to establish a rapid trade enforcement mechanism that could sever a country's access to the EU single market within days rather than years. In a joint letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the two nations propose a system that could scale from targeting individual products to blocking an entire country. While China is not explicitly named, it is widely viewed as the primary target. The EU's trade deficit with China reached €360 billion last year.