European Union foreign ministers are today set to discuss one of the most sensitive topics on their agenda - EU relations with China - amid a barrage of pressure from the US not to lift its arms embargo and multiple calls from voters for EU "safeguards" against a rising tide of Chinese textile imports.

US lawmakers yesterday urged the Bush administration to keep pressure on the EU not to lift its embargo, and repeated claims that eliminating the ban would have serious ramifications for the transatlantic relationship.