Trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels have been simmering for months, and China has now opened another front. Chinese authorities announced an investigation and inspection of goods imported from Europe on suspicion that they contain banned chemical substances and are being sold at artificially low, dumped prices. The announcement comes ahead of a planned visit to China by the European Union's trade commissioner, a scheduling few will consider accidental. Both sides have spent recent months trading barbs over tariffs and market access, each using anti-dumping probes as bargaining chips. European producers of goods such as brandy and dairy have already felt the impact of earlier Chinese investigations, and this new case adds a further point of pressure. Beijing presents the move as a defence of domestic producers and of consumer safety. Brussels will read it as another move in a bargaining game that will continue during the commissioner's trip. Whether the probe produces real findings or simply sharpens each side's negotiating position remains an open question.